The Rabbit Hole You Didn’t Know You Were In

I’m a lawyer in Sydney. Two kids. Not religious. I don’t do theology.

I just submitted to the Royal Commission into the Bondi attack — the antisemitism inquiry. Then I went down a rabbit hole trying to answer a simple question: what’s actually driving antisemitism in Australia?

Late one night I was half-watching a lecture and a professor played a clip from 1990. A young Benjamin Netanyahu — future Prime Minister of Israel — visits the Lubavitcher Rebbe, one of the most powerful rabbis of the twentieth century. On camera, the Rebbe tells him: “The Messiah still hasn’t come. So do something to hasten his coming. Apparently it’s not enough.”

He wasn’t praying. He was telling a future head of state to speed up the apocalypse.

Then I found a clip of Pastor John Hagee — head of Christians United for Israel, ten million members, the biggest pro-Israel organisation on earth — preaching that God sent Hitler to drive Jews to Israel. Direct quote: “God sent a hunter. A hunter is someone who comes with a gun. Hitler was a hunter.” He said God sent the Holocaust because Jews didn’t move to Israel voluntarily. He apologised for the wording. Never took back the idea. His church kept selling the sermon.

That was years ago. He’s still going. On March 1, 2026 — while the US was bombing Iran — Hagee told his congregation that events are “right on cue” and prayed for “God Almighty to be brought onto the battlefield.” Christian worship leader Sean Feucht called it “end-time open doors.” This isn’t historical theology. It’s happening right now, during an active war.

The professor’s point: both Christianity and Judaism have end-of-the-world traditions that say antisemitism isn’t just bad — it’s necessary. Because persecution forces Jews to move to Israel. And once they’re all there, that’s when everything kicks off. The Second Coming. The Messiah. The endgame. Depends which religion you ask.

I stayed up all night. What I found unsettled me.

I’m not talking about Jewish people generally — most of the Jewish community has nothing to do with this. But certain specific organisations have a problem: their religious beliefs say antisemitism is a required step in God’s plan. They publicly say they’re fighting it. Their beliefs privately require it to continue. I’m not making this up — it’s on their own websites.

Until now I’d thought about antisemitism the way most people do: bad actors target Jews, and the job is to stop them. Simple. But it’s not simple. Some of the organisations loudest about fighting antisemitism hold beliefs that require it to continue. They’re not fighting the fire. They’re reading the smoke as a sign from God.

The question I keep coming back to: are these beliefs shaping how Australia responds to antisemitism?

Two groups believe the world is ending. They agree on almost everything — except the ending.

The Jewish version (a fringe — most Jews reject this entirely)

Step 1: Jews move back to Israel.

Step 2: The ancient Temple in Jerusalem gets rebuilt.

Step 3: Israel’s enemies are defeated.

Step 4: The Messiah arrives — not Jesus, a future Jewish king.

Step 5: Redemption. Safety. No more persecution. Ever.

Their thinking: we can’t wait for the next Holocaust to force us back. Let’s make it happen ourselves. That’s what the Rebbe was telling Netanyahu — hurry up.

The Christian version (80 million American evangelicals)

Step 1: Jews move back to Israel. ✓ Same.

Step 2: The Temple gets rebuilt. ✓ Same.

Step 3: Here’s where it diverges. The Antichrist shows up. Armageddon. Jesus comes back. And every Jew who doesn’t convert to Christianity? Destroyed.

Read that again. Steps 1 and 2 are identical. Both groups want the exact same thing — Jews in Israel, Temple rebuilt. But in the Jewish version, Jews are saved. In the Christian version, Jews are wiped out.

This is why they’re working together right now. They want the same things — for completely different reasons. The Jewish side thinks they’re racing toward salvation. The Christian side is using them as background characters in a story that ends with their destruction. They’re allies today. They won’t be at the end.

And here’s the bit that should make you uncomfortable: in the Christian version, antisemitism is a GOOD thing. Seriously. Persecution makes Jews leave their countries. Leaving fulfils the prophecy. The worse things get for Jews around the world, the faster the religious script plays out.

So who gets called antisemitic? Someone who chants “from the river to the sea” at a protest — that’s two years in prison in Queensland. But a belief system held by 80 million people that literally ends with the destruction of every non-converting Jew? That’s not called antisemitism. That’s called “being pro-Israel.”

82% of white American evangelicals believe God gave Israel to the Jewish people. 40% of American Jews believe the same thing.

Source: Pew Research Center

Evangelicals care more about Israel than most Jewish people do. Not because they care about Jews — because their religion needs Jews in a specific place for the finale to start.

Researchers call Christian Zionism “one of the largest antisemitic movements in the world today.” The actual churches IN Jerusalem — Catholic, Anglican, Orthodox, Lutheran — signed a joint statement calling it “a false teaching.” Not commentators on social media. The actual churches of Jerusalem.

“OK but these are fringe views. Nobody important actually believes this.”

That’s what I thought. Then I looked it up.

Mike Huckabee. Current US Ambassador to Israel. Quotes Genesis 12 to explain his position — “I want to be on the blessing side, not the curse side.” Asked about claiming territory from the Nile to the Euphrates — that’s Lebanon, Syria, Jordan, and parts of Iraq and Egypt — he said: “It would be fine if they took it all.”

Mike Pompeo. Secretary of State. Asked if God put Trump in power to protect Israel: “As a Christian, I certainly believe that’s possible.”

Mike Pence. Vice President. Quoted the Bible at the Israeli parliament. Mike Johnson. Speaker of the House. Says he takes the biblical command to bless Israel “literally.” James Inhofe. US Senator. Asked why he supports Israel: “Because God said so.”

Scott Morrison. Former Australian PM. Pentecostal. Recognised West Jerusalem as Israel’s capital. In January 2026 he flew to an Israeli government antisemitism conference in Jerusalem — the same conference that the world’s four biggest Jewish organisations boycotted because it platformed far-right politicians. He told the audience: “For me, as a Christian, it is the origin of my faith.”

That’s the US Ambassador, the Secretary of State, the Vice President, the Speaker, a Senator — and a former Australian Prime Minister. These aren’t fringe views. They’re running the show.

It’s not just politicians either. Since the Iran war began, over 200 US service members have complained that their commanders are telling them the war is part of God’s plan. The head of the Military Religious Freedom Foundation: “Christian nationalists have taken over our government, and certainly our U.S. military.” The Left Behind book series — basically this theology as a thriller — has sold over 80 million copies. This isn’t fringe. It’s mainstream.

So what does this have to do with Australia?

The theology says antisemitism drives Jews to Israel, and that migration is required for the end times. Now watch what happened after Bondi.

First — something that’s been bugging me. The Bondi massacre was an ISIS-inspired attack. The shooters cited the Gaza war. That’s a specific thing with a specific cause. But the entire government response treated it as proof that Australians are deeply antisemitic. $91 million in funding. A Royal Commission. New laws. Not about ISIS. About the idea that antisemitism is baked into Australian society. Nobody seems to be asking why the response got framed that way. Or by who.

Here’s who pushed for the Royal Commission. Weeks after Bondi, an organisation called ICEJ Australia — the International Christian Embassy Jerusalem — organised 361 Christian pastors to write to the PM demanding an inquiry into antisemitism. Sounds reasonable, right? Except ICEJ’s actual mission is helping Jews move to Israel, which they call “fulfilling biblical prophecy.” Their Aliyah Director wrote that ICEJ is “poised to assist a tsunami of Jewish immigrants who are ready to escape the growing global antisemitism.” Their website literally says: “As the prophetic timetable hastens, we remain steadfast in our calling to help the Jews return home.”

Let that land. An organisation whose whole purpose is getting Jews to move to Israel — as a religious prophecy — lobbied for a Royal Commission into antisemitism. The worse antisemitism looks, the more Jews leave. The more Jews leave, the faster the prophecy comes true.

The Israel Allies Foundation runs Christian Zionist groups in 51 countries’ parliaments — including Australia’s. The Australia-Israel Allies Caucus has 35 sitting MPs. The Foundation’s president, Josh Reinstein: “I think we’re closer to the coming of the Messiah than we even realize.” That’s the man coordinating your parliamentarians.

Then look at how these organisations responded to Bondi itself.

Christians for Israel Australia wrote about the massacre. Started with “we need to repent.” Then pivoted to: “Finally, ask any Jews you know if they have considered making Aliyah” — aliyah means moving to Israel. Their international branch paired the Bondi coverage with a Bible verse about God rescuing Jews “from all the places where they were scattered.” Fifteen Australians murdered. Turned into a Bible lesson about moving to Israel.

Charisma Magazine — huge in Hillsong and Pentecostal churches across Australia — ran a headline ten days after Bondi about Jews leaving for Israel: “Prophecy In Action.”

The Jewish Council of Australia flagged that the sponsors of the big Sydney antisemitism rally were organisations “encouraging Jews to migrate with the express aim of hastening the end of the world and the second coming of Jesus Christ.”

Jewish Australians themselves identified that the organisations claiming to stand with them need their suffering to continue.

Meanwhile, Netanyahu launched a programme called “Aliyat HaTekuma” — literally targeting Australia. 30,000 immigrants a year. Financial incentives to settle in the occupied West Bank. The United Israel Appeal sent $39.2 million from Australia to Israel by November 2025. The religious script and the government programme say the same thing: Jews should leave Australia.

One more thing

Antisemitism is real. Over 2,000 incidents reported in 2024. A synagogue firebombed. Fifteen people killed at Bondi. Every Jewish Australian should feel safe. No question.

But some of the organisations shaping the response literally describe antisemitism-driven emigration as “divinely orchestrated” fulfilment of a “prophetic timetable.” Those are their words. On their websites. Right now.

The Uniting Church doesn’t think so — in 2025 they officially called on churches to “confront Christian Zionism.”

I think it’s a question worth asking. Because right now, nobody is.

In Part 2 I’ll follow the money — where the donations go when antisemitism spikes, who profits, and why the organisations measuring the problem are the same ones fundraising off it. That one’s got spreadsheets.

Sources

1. Ben Lorber, Political Research Associates, “End Times Antisemitism” (2020); Tristan Sturm, Ethnic and Racial Studies, Vol. 44, No. 1 (2021)
2. Jerusalem Declaration on Christian Zionism (22 August 2006)
3. Pew Research Center, “More white evangelicals than American Jews say God gave Israel to the Jewish people” (2013)
4. Jewish Council of Australia, statement on NAIN rally sponsors (November 2024)
5. Charisma Magazine, “Prophecy In Action” (24 December 2025)
6. Huckabee/Carlson (Feb 2026); Pompeo/CBN News (Mar 2019); Pence/Knesset (Jan 2018); Johnson/All Israel News; Inhofe/Senate (Mar 2002); Morrison/ACC conference (Apr 2021, Crikey); Morrison/Generation Truth (Jan 2026, Jerusalem Post)
7. Howard Flower, ICEJ Aliyah Director, “ICEJ Poised to Assist a Wave of Aliyah” (icej.org); “A New Wave of Aliyah Rising from the West” (icej.org)
8. Josh Reinstein interview, Federal Newswire; Israel Allies Foundation
9. Jill Curry, “Responding to the Bondi Beach Massacre,” Christians for Israel Australia (c4israel.com.au, 9 March 2026); “Hanukkah Massacre in Sydney” (whyisrael.org)
10. Uniting Church Assembly, WCC statement adoption (July 2025)
11. United Israel Appeal Australia, ACNC filings (2024–2025)
12. Gershom Gorenberg, The End of Days (Oxford UP, 2000); Victoria Clark, Allies for Armageddon (Yale UP, 2007)