Avi Yemini | |
---|---|
Born | Avraham Shalom Waks[1] 17 October 1985 |
Nationality | Australian, Israeli |
Citizenship | |
Education | Yeshivah College, Melbourne[1] |
Occupations |
|
Employer | Rebel News (since 2020) |
Political party | Liberty Alliance (2018–2019)[1][3] |
Military career | |
Allegiance | Israel |
Service/ | Israel Defense Forces |
Years of service | 2004–2007 |
Unit | Golani Brigade |
Avraham Shalom Yemini (né Waks; born 17 October 1985)[4][5][6] is an Australian-Israeli far-right political activist.[7][8][9][10] From 2020 onwards he has worked for Canadian far-right website Rebel News[11] and is currently their Australian Bureau Chief.[2]
Yemini was born in Melbourne Victoria to Zephaniah (formerly Stephen) and Hava Waks,[12] and grew up in the Melbourne suburb of St Kilda East.[1] He is one of seventeen children.[1] One of his elder siblings is Manny Waks.[6]
Yemini served with the Golani Brigade in the Israeli Defence Force (IDF) from 2005 until 2008. Most of his active duty was spent along the border of the Gaza Strip.[2][13]
After returning to Australia, Yemini opened his first IDF gym in Caulfield, Victoria followed by a second in Melbourne's CBD in 2016.[14][15] In 2018, the gyms were sold to a private buyer.
One of his brothers, Manny Waks, sued Yemini for defamation following claims by Yemini that Waks and their father were harbouring a known paedophile in the family home.[16]
On 4 March 2018, Yemini joined the Australian Liberty Alliance to run as a candidate for the Southern Metropolitan Region at the 2018 Victorian state election.[17] He was unsuccessful, receiving 0.49% of the vote.[18] Through the party and his collaboration with Tommy Robinson and Rebel News, he has been affiliated with the counter-jihad movement.[19] He has described himself as "proudly anti-Islam", Islam as a "barbaric ideology", and Muslim countries as "Islamic shitholes".[20]
In July 2019, Yemini admitted he threw a chopping board that hit his former wife on her forehead. He also pleaded guilty to using a carriage service to harass by sending abusive text messages to her, and one charge of breaching an intervention order relating to a video of a man. Yemini's lawyer argued he did not mean to hit her.[21]
In 2021, Yemini took legal action against three Victorian parliamentary officials − including former Legislative Assembly speaker Colin Brooks − after he was denied media accreditation in July of that year.[22] Yemini subsequently lost the case.[23]
In 2023 he sued Facebook fact-checkers RMIT for labeling Rebel News content as "misleading". The case was dismissed as he had "failed to make any formal inquiries via appropriate channels with relevant persons".[24][10]