Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp tried to stir up trouble by sending “Undercover Jewish man Ofir Birenbaum” to Egyptian cafe, Cairo Takeaway, in Sydney’s Newtown in February 2025, wearing a cap with the Star of David on it and a Star of David pendant.
Ofir Birenbaum filed a defamation claim in the Federal Court of Australia against Cairo Takeaway, owner Hesham El Masry and staff member Talaat Yehia, on Tuesday the 5th of August 2025, over Instagram posts in February 2025 about the incident.
“The Star of David is a symbol generally recognized as representing both Jewish identity and Judaism“. (Click here to read more)
Mr Birenbaum’s defamation claim will drag in News Corp’s management and journalists, as they are the ones who organised the “Undercover Jew” media sting, which is proven by leaked News Corp computer files, as per below.
Background
The Crikey website broke key details of the story in an article published on the 14th of February 2025 titled “Inside News Corp’s backfired ‘UNDERCOVERJEW’ operation” which starts off:
A News Corp operation sending an “undercover Jewish man” to a popular Egyptian cafe this week backfired when staff called the police following an altercation with Daily Telegraph journalists.
Internal files seen by Crikey show the outlet planned to use covert video-recording eyewear in the making of the story, which it internally named “UNDERCOVERJEW” and sketched out a week in advance.
and:
The company’s internal database also includes photos taken by photographer Rohan Kelly, including one of Cairo Takeaway owner and restauranteur Hesham El Masry. The file also has instructions describing the assignment brief:
“Meet Gussy at Holt Street call on arrival at 9am and head to Newtown for 930am. Undercover Jewish man Ofir Birenbaum sees what it’s like being Jewish in Sydney. Will secretly film with his video glasses. The aim is to walk down main streets in Newtown, Blacktown, Bankstown, Arncliffe (might not do Arncliffe it the worst perhaps) and film peoples reactions to this Jewish man in their neighbourhood. Needs discreet photos of the guy walking down these streets to accompany the yarn. Speak to pic desk for a brief.”
and:
Birenbaum has featured in News Corp publications a number of times. In December 2024, Birenbaum appeared on Sky News after claiming he had been moved on by police at a pro-Palestinian protest in the Sydney CBD. In November 2023, he was quoted by The Australian after being involved in a rally outside Greens Senator Mehreen Faruqi’s office, pictured wearing an Israeli flag as a cape. (Click here to read more)
Channel Nine reported on the story in February 2025 as per below:
For some reason Channel Nine changed News Corp’s internal name for the media sting from “UNDERCOVER JEW” to “Undercover operation”.
It is also worth noting that the Crikey report says they “planned to use covert video-recording eyewear in the making of the story” and the Nine Story above, at the 15-second mark, says he turned the camera in the glasses on.
There have been reports that Ofir Birenbaum has denied wearing camera glasses and/or recording any video in the shop. But as you will see below, he does wear camera glasses and they record fine.
Defamation claim – Ofir Birenbaum’s handiwork will come back to haunt him
In December 2024 Ofir Birenbaum held an Israeli flag opposite a pro-Palestine protest and he was Marched away by police for antagonising the protesters a per the below video.
The Longford Slasher @Longfordslasher reported on X:
Ofir Birenbaum claimed he didn’t have a recording of the Cairo takeaway incident. His equipment didn’t have any issues when he was secretly recording a police officer at the Technion event and trying to provoke protestors with his Israeli flag. Here’s a shot from across the road.
FRACT ✊ Your Right To Know ! @reinventionfail responded on X:
They look like the same glasses.
Ofir Birenbaum
Mr Ofir Birenbaum will have some questions to answer, under oath, about where is the video from his glasses at the Cairo Takeaway and if he claims he doesn’t have any he should be reminded he is “under oath” and the potential consequences of perjury. One has to suspect the video would be very telling and unhelpful to Ofir Birenbaum’s defamation claim.
Ofir Birenbaum lies about attack on “Jewish” daycare centre
In January 2025, “Only About Children, a non-religious daycare centre near the Maroubra synagogue and Mount Sinai college, was set alight and graffitied in the early hours”. (Click here to read more)
In the above video Ofir Birenbaum says it was a Jewish childcare centre, which is a lie, and given Mr Birenbaum was at the childcare centre he would have known it wasn’t Jewish. So, why did he lie? He also talks about a caravan with explosives which has since been found to be the work or organised criminals.
Mr Ofir Birenbaum has shown his loyalty is to Israel and he will do anything, including incitement as the police said in the above video, to find even a hint of antisemitism to promote to the media.
Stranger @strangerous10 posted the below on X:
Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman calls out The Daily Telegraph who sent in Far Right Jewish man Ofir Birenbaum to “insight violence” in a Sydney cafe and says this type action by the media only increases racism against “all communities” (At the National Press Club 6/8/25)
While Race Discrimination Commissioner Giridharan Sivaraman does not name Ofir Birenbaum that is clearly who he is talking about and for Commissioner Sivaraman to in effect say Birenbaum conspired with News Corp’s The Daily Telegraph to incite violence isn’t a good start for Birenbaum’s defamation claim.
Above is just some of Ofir Birenbaum’s handiwork and for Birenbaum to file a case in court saying he has been defamed is scandalous.
Based on what’s on social media the only person defaming Ofir Birenbaum is himself and his defamation claim is frivolous and vexatious at best.
There must be a real chance that News Corp will put pressure on Ofir Birenbaum, or maybe pay him, to withdraw the case as News Corp are the ones with most to lose, especially if their management and journalists are called as witnesses and put on the witness box under oath.
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Categories: News Corp, Rupert Murdoch
This man needs to learn his lesson, and with a person with this kind of long history of incitement, I’m gobsmacked he hasn’t been dragged before a court before now. A nice little term of incarceration then deportation, as happens to New Zealanders and Pacific Islanders, all the time. I could name a few others, who could also use a term in jail to teach them a lesson, serial offenders from Jewish organisations. What scum they are and I’m so sick of them being “untouchable.”
Totally agree jen
The Daily Telegraph should GO, the way Murdoch’s rags went in the UK
Extreme right Jewish or Zionist operatives and their extreme right media platform. As this report has shown, it’s basically the same thing, always has been. This has been going on in our media and politics for decades. This orchestrated manipulation of public opinion. “The Caravan hoax”
Notice how they call the protest marches “Anti Jewish or Pro Palestinian”? When they’re actually anti genocide marches. We have a very sick and corrupted media and far right politicians are absolutely deplorable and it seems to be getting worse by the day. As the old saying goes, “You know whom your oppressors are, they’re the ones you’re forbidden to ever question or talk about”!
It’s incredible the lengths Zionists and their backers will go to, to hoodwink the public into believing there is entrenched anti-Semitism, which is above the level it truly is.
It makes one think that many of these attacks on Jewish institutions, which are believed to have been instigated by overseas criminals, were initiated by criminal, attention-seeking Zionists themselves.
You are absolutely right in your supposition markllg2. Read UK’s Asa Winstanley’s Weaponising Anti-Semitism (2023) and Oxford academic Avi Shlaim’s Three Worlds: Memoir of an Arab-Jew. (2022 I think) The latter (born in Baghdad – the ancient Jewish community hounded out by so-called “anti-Semitic” attacks – actually staged by Mossad – as too the same to communities in Morocco and other places. Also Mossad organised the ousting of Jeremy Corbyn from the British Labour Party leadership – anti-Semitic attacks organised from within the Israeli Embassy by its Mossad operatives under the direction of specially-appointed Ambassador Mark Regev 2016-2020 (born and raised in Melbourne as Mark Freiberg till in Israel changing his name. A prominent member of the Melbourne “Socialist” Zionist Youth Movement “Ichud Habonim” – he moved to Israel in 1982. And read Melbourne-born writer/commentator/documentary maker Antony Lowenstein’s 2023 book The Palestine Laboratory, too. Mr Pear Tree (Birenbaum) is probably Mossad but certainly an agent provocateur. I am looking forward to his sentencing to years in gaol as an inciter of public mischief/racism.
It was just a non-Jewish criminal with no connections to Israel in the case of the caravan and suggestions he was involved in the graffiti. He was trying to negotiate a deal with Australian police so he could return.
What’s really surprising about the “Undercover Jew” saga is how, despite the serious nature of the incident – with covert media operations, public confrontations, and concerns about racial and religious tensions – there doesn’t seem to be any clear sign that the relevant authorities have stepped in to investigate or review what happened.
Given all the layers involved, you’d expect at least some of the key agencies to be actively looking into it by now. But from what’s publicly known, that doesn’t appear to be the case.
Has anyone from these agencies actually started looking into what went down?
• Federal Court of Australia – handling the defamation case, but is there any oversight beyond that?
• Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) – to check if News Corp’s undercover operation broke media ethics or broadcasting rules.
• Australian Federal Police (AFP) – in case any criminal activity like harassment, incitement, or unlawful recording happened.
• Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) – to monitor if this operation risks public safety or involves foreign influence or threats to national security.
• Australian Human Rights Commission (AHRC) – to look into possible racial or religious vilification and protect community rights.
• Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) – if privacy laws were broken by covert filming or data handling.
• NSW Police Force – local policing for any immediate public order or safety issues related to the incident.
Given the covert filming, possible media ethics breaches, privacy concerns, and potential for stirring up social tensions, it feels like investigations or at least some reviews should already be underway – regardless of Ofir Birenbaum’s defamation claim against the café and its staff.
This isn’t about blaming anyone but making sure there are proper checks and balances when sensitive issues like this come up – especially around race, religion, and public safety.
Without timely and transparent oversight, incidents like this risk causing real harm: the financial costs of drawn – out legal battles, the damage to public trust in the media and institutions, and the erosion of social cohesion and community integrity. Ensuring accountability isn’t just a legal or procedural matter – it’s essential to preserving Australia’s values and maintaining harmony in our diverse society.
Thank You for the article, KCA
If the Daily Telegraph was involved then one would know lies and misinformation are being sought. Fake terrorists events involving caravans, grafitti and petty criminals get anti- protest laws enacted, this clown and a Murdoch rag are involved and “crickets” from the Politicians.
I have also published a video of the above article on the Kangaroo Court of Australia YouTube channel here: https://youtu.be/_jjr1w27zKQ
Some of your readers may be interested in this https://www.sydneycriminallawyers.com.au/blog/racial-and-religious-vilification-complaint-lodged-against-australian-jewish-association/?utm_source=newsletter&utm_medium=email&utm_campaign=week-33