A special envoy has been appointed by the prime minister to address heightened levels of anti-Semitism in the community.

Businesswoman Jillian Segal will serve as the envoy to combat anti-Semitism and will meet with members of the Jewish community and the government on the best way to stop the vilification.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said anti-Semitism directed towards Australia’s Jewish community had been more prominent since the October 7 attacks in Israel by Hamas militants.

“Australians overwhelmingly do not want conflict brought here. What they want here is harmony and for people to be able to get on with each other,” he told reporters in Sydney on Tuesday.

“It has been a reminder over recent months that we just can’t take that respect and social cohesion for granted. We need to nourish it. We need to cherish it. We need to celebrate it.”

Ms Segal, who had served in the public and private sector as well as the president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, will be in the role for the next three years.

The prime minister said a special envoy for Islamophobia would also be appointed shortly.

Tensions had been heightened in communities following the Hamas’ attack, which resulted in the deaths of 1200 Israelis and the taking of hostages.

Health officials in the Middle East have said 37,000 people have been killed in Gaza since Israel declared war on Hamas.

Ms Segal said anti-Semitism had presented threats not just to Jewish Australians but to the entire population.

“Anti-Semitism erodes all that is good and healthy in a society,” she said.

“It has the capacity to lie dormant through good times and then, in times of crisis like pandemic, which we’ve experienced, economic downturn, war – it awakens, it triggers the very worst instincts in an individual.”

This post was originally published on Michael West.