This is a slightly edited version of a story published on Michael West Media on February 26, 2025.
Michael Dagostino (left) and Khaled Sabsabi (Image: Creative Australia/Anna Kucera)
The man behind the Cairo Takeaway caper has closed all his social media accounts, but not before congratulating Creative Australia on their decision to sack Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino. Wendy Bacon and Yaakov Aharon with the story.
Since October 7 2023, Ofir Birenbaum, a competitive powerlifter and ex-IDF soldier, has been involved in political organising, staging rallies, stunts and undercover operations in support of Israel’s war on Gaza.
This all came to a halt when Birenbaum was exposed by staff at Sydney cafe Cairo Takeaway during a covert operation with reporter Danielle Gusmaroli of News Corporation’s Daily Telegraph to produce a “Daily Telegraph doco” on the experiences of Jewish people in Sydney.
Birenbaum had earlier been present at the Invasion Day rally in Sydney on January 26 this year when he was observed filming Greens and other activists with his video glasses. He and Gusmaroli were working together on that day, too, until they were spotted by activists who had experienced her previous hostile reporting.
On Sunday night, the last traces of Birenbaum’s social media accounts disappeared.
This followed shortly after MWM made enquiries into a congratulatory email that had been sent to Creative Australia on February 15.
Creative Australia sacks artists
That email was sent two days after the Board of Creative Australia decided to sack artists Khaled Sabsabi and Michael Dagostino, whom it had selected just days before to represent Australia at the 2026 Venice Biennale. Creative Australia, which had lauded the selector’s decision as one that represented the ‘diversity of Australian voices’, decided that its choice “poses an unacceptable risk to public support for Australia’s artistic community….”
Creative Australia’s sudden reversal has sent Australia’s artistic community into crisis and produced a storm of resignations, boycotts and anger from other artists. On Tuesday this week, CA CEO Adrian Collette told a Senate Estimates Hearing that there may be an empty Australian pavilion in 2026. With its rapid decision, the CA Board has divided itself from Australia’s creative community rather than protecting what it calls ‘social cohesion’.
The Australian and the LNP opposition have publicly boasted about their role in the decision. What is not being discussed is the negative and racist narratives that are being generated about Sabsabi and his Arab Australian community both before and after the decision.
One such reaction included a message from an email address of the Israel-based organisation Lions of Zion, signed by a man calling himself Rabbi Ofir Birenbaum.
Racist email message
The email was defamatory, offensive, Islamophobic, racist and homophobic. It was seen by a number of Creative Australia staff.
MWM wanted to ask Ofir Birenbaum whether he was the author of the email. However, he has instructed that all questions to him are to be directed through his lawyer, Rebekah Giles. MWM contacted Giles to find out whether he had sent the email but got no reply.
We noted that the email message contained two different spellings of Birenbaum/Birembaum, but this was not surprising as Ofir Birenbaum uses several different last names, including Bloch, B, Israel, Birenboim, and Birenbaum/Birembaum.
The email was sent from hanudani@gmail.com, an account MWM traced as belonging to Daniel Hanukayev, the CEO of Israel-based troll group Lions of Zion. (Not the same group as Lions of Zion run by Yaacov Travitz in Melbourne.)
MWM sent questions to hanudani@gmail.com to clarify whether Hanukayev or Birenbaum had authored the email. Hanukayev responded stating that he did not send the email and he does not know Birenbaum. MWM asked him who else had access to the email and whether they included anyone based in Australia. We received no response.
We cannot be sure who actually authored the gross email but we know it was sent by someone with access to the hanudani@gmail.com account who identified themselves as Rabbi Ofir Birembaum and that it reached a number of Creative Australia staff.
Manufactured anti-semitism
Lions of Zion on X
The existence of the grossly Islamophobic and homophobic message is typical of the racist content of some communications being received by organisations from some supporting Israel and purporting to be concerned about anti-semitism. It also suggests foreign interference in Australia’s cultural scene.
According to its website, the Lions of Zion in Israel were founded in June last year. They recruit volunteers to create social media content and describe themselves as a pro-Israel advocacy organisation promoting “truth, innovation and interfaith collaboration.”
They daily celebrate each perceived IDF victory, strongly support Netanhayu and mock and troll Palestinian supporters.
There is also a darker side to Hanukayev’s communications. He sent threatening videos from Israel to Shayne Chester, an Australian pensioner and artist living in social housing who has converted to Islam.
Chester is a well-known supporter and online campaigner for Palestinian rights; he has often been doxxed and has received anonymous death threats.
A heavy message arrived at 2 in the morning in August of 2024.
“Hey Shayne, your attention,” Hanukayev said, in broken Israeli English. “The day you could battle the Jew is over. Don’t make mistake. Piece of Nazi.”
Hanukayev then speaks in Hebrew, “Well dog it is a problem to call you, because dogs are better than you. Don’t make any mistakes, you pig.”
In a further video taunting Shayne Chester, Hanukayev simply shows himself in full IDF combat gear, operating a mounted machine gun atop of an armoured vehicle.
The implication is clear: Hanukayev has guns, and he is watching Chester.
MWM spoke to Chester, who said that when he first saw the videos at 2 am in the morning, he was ‘traumatised” and deleted them. But later, he “had an epiphany” and realised that he “had to move beyond it”.
Birenbaum disappears
As of last Sunday night at 9 pm – minutes after MWM reissued our request for comment from Birenbaum and/or Hanukayev, every one of Birenbaum’s public profiles were deactivated. The 14-month stream of rabid Zionist content had halted.
But while Ofir has disappeared, the right-wing organisations that he co-founded and has been an active part of continue.
MWM has previously reported on the role of Birenbaum’s wife Sophie Calland as a key organiser with the astroturfing Better Council Inc group which campaigned to “Put Greens last” in NSW Local government elections.
Better Council had strong LNP links, but Calland is a member of the Labor Party. She authorised the Better Council Inc. electoral materials. She claimed that the group was only concerned with ‘Rubbish and Rates’ rather than with any international issues. This was patently false. Birenbaum was a key organiser and staffed several electoral polling booths.
Better Council Inc. heavily drew on the pre-existing networks of the right-wing group Together With Israel, which is a small group of mostly Israeli Australians, including Birenbaum.They have organised rallies and lobbied LNP and Labor politicians.
Birenbaum claims to have also co-founded Never Again is Now (NAIN) with Mark Leach. NAIN advertises itself as a “Christian grassroots movement educating and mobilising Christians and all Australians to stand against the most ancient of racial hatreds, antisemitism.” There is no mention of racism against First Nations people or Islamophobia. Leach supports US President Trump’s policy for emptying Gaza of its people.
Birenbaum is one of a few valued supporters – called ‘friends’ – of the right-wing Australian Jewish Association. It is closely allied with and promotes Advance, which has raised millions to target the Greens at the coming Federal election.
Aligned with Peter Dutton
Just weeks before he disappeared from public life, Birenbaum delivered a speech in which he urged the Labor governments to go beyond security and policing to what he regards as the root cause of anti-semitic graffiti and arson attacks – the pro-Palestinian chants and protests in the streets and in the universities. These, he urged, must be stopped.
Birenbaum’s speech resonated perfectly with the message delivered by LNP leader Peter Dutton at NewsCorp’s Sky News ‘Anti-Semitism Summit’ last week. As he was introduced by an appreciative host and Zionist Sharri Markson, Dutton received a standing ovation after he promised to bring in even tougher laws and withdraw visas in order to suppress the broad range of actions he claims are ‘antisemitic’.
For now, Birenbaum has withdrawn from the public eye but that is not to say, he is not still busy behind the scenes.