Nazi messages encoded on the personalized number plate of a luxury vehicle have sparked widespread outrage and calls for it to be immediately withdrawn.
A shocked passerby took a photo of the Victorian license plate of a Lexus sports car parked at Westfield Doncaster in Melbourne’s northeast, which read ’88-SS’.
The number 88 is a neo-Nazi code for ‘Heil Hitler’ and the SS was the infamous branch of Nazi Germany’s military tasked primarily with exterminating Jews and others targeted by the regime in the lead-up to and during World War II were considered undesirable.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich told Daily Mail Australia on Tuesday night that the “stomach-churning” license plate was pushing a “despicable agenda” and
This personalized Victorian number plate with a coded Nazi message and a reference to Hitler’s infamous murderous paramilitary, the SS, has sparked outrage
“VicRoads must ensure that vanity license plates containing anti-Semitic and racist acronyms and terms are immediately withdrawn or not approved in the first place,” Abramovich said.
‘At a time when anti-Jewish hatred is skyrocketing across the country and we are seeing a dangerous wave of unapologetic white supremacists determined to push their vile and dark agenda into the real world, this kind of hatred is the last thing we need. ‘
“We cannot afford to sleep at the wheel and have horrific references on our cars that incite violence and intolerance.”
Mr Abramovich called on VicRoads to follow the example of NSW, which recalled personalized number plates reading ‘OCT7TH’ in an apparent celebration of last year’s Hamas attacks on Israel, which sparked bloody fighting in the region.
Images of a white Ford Ranger with the NSW number plate were shared widely on social media.
Last Thursday, NSW Main Road Minister John Graham announced he had taken action to recall the plates.
As soon as I heard about this, we ordered a recall,” he told Sydney radio station 2GB.
‘It used to take up to a month before the license plates could be recalled. Transport immediately intervened.
The license plate, which appeared to celebrate Hamas’ bloody attack on Israel on October 7, was recalled by the NSW roads minister last week.
‘Given the tensions in the world, I was not happy about that. As Minister of Roads, we have shortened that process and the request is now that these license plates are received within 48 hours.’
Mr Graham said if the owner does not surrender the relevant number plates, the car’s registration will be ‘completely cancelled’.
Ms Leach said an
Transport for NSW denied the claims, telling news.com.au the offending number plate was registered in December 2023 – after the attacks.
The Hamas attacks in southern Israel killed about 1,200 Israelis and kidnapped hundreds more.
Anti-Defamation Commission chairman Dvir Abramovich ((pictured) called on Victoria to follow the NSW example by recalling the offending number plate
It sparked an all-out war between Israeli forces and the militant group that controls the Palestinian area of Gaza.
The death toll in Gaza has passed 27,000, according to the Hamas-controlled Health Ministry.
About 85 percent of Gaza’s civilians have been displaced as a result of the airstrikes and ground operations.