Arsen Ostrovsky

Arsen Ostrovsky and a lawyer,

Ostrovsky has been a vocal defender of Israel's actions for over a decade. This includes involvement in South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice. He previously served as CEO of the International Legal Forum. In November 2025, he relocated to Australia to head the Sydney office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC). The Jewish News Syndicate erroneously reported that Ostrovsky was born in Australia. In 2012, Ostrovsky "made aliyah" to Israel.

Ostrovsky served as the Director of Research (c. 2013) and later as the executive director of the Israeli-Jewish Congress (IJC), a role he held from before 2017 through at least 2018.

Ostrovsky served as the CEO of the International Legal Forum (ILF), an Israel-based NGO, from 2012 until recently. In this capacity, he has appeared before the Knesset as an invited guest, including on 29 January 2024 to discuss antisemitism.

2021 Israel–Palestine crisis He spoke to media during the 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, as the CEO of the International Legal Forum and an "expert on digital politics".

Lawsuit Against University of California, Berkeley

In November 2022, Ostrovsky and another attorney, Gabriel Groisman, filed a complaint against University of California, Berkeley with the U.S. Department of Education Office for Civil Rights (OCR). OCR opened a formal investigation in December 2022. Their complaint was in response to Berkeley Law Student for Justice in Palestine (Berkeley LSJP) announcement on 21 August 2022 that nine student organizations adopted a "pro-Palestine bylaw" and vowed not to "invite speakers that have expressed and continued to hold views or host/sponsor/promote events in support of Zionism, the apartheid state of Israel, and the occupation of Palestine". A wide array of student organizations signed the Law Students for Justice in Palestine at Berkeley Law pledge. (Including: Berkeley Law Muslim Student Association, Middle Eastern and North African Law Students Association, Womxn of Color Collective, Asian Pacific American Law Students Association, Queer Caucus, Community Defense Project, Women of Berkeley Law, and Law Students of African Descent.)

Gaza war

7 October 2023 attacks Ostrovsky's own experience of the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel was sheltering from rocket fire in the stairwell of his Tel Aviv apartment block. Speaking to Indian television he called the attack "unprovoked".

Ottawa conference and cockroach cartoon In late 2023, Ostrovsky was a speaker at the Antisemitism: Face It, Fight It conference in Ottawa, Canada. A cartoon posted on Ostrovsky's to advertise the conference depicted Hamas militants as cockroaches, with Palestinian colours, being crushed under an IDF boot. The cartoon was placed under restriction by Twitter for its use of insect imagery, and Canadians for Justice and Peace in the Middle East called it an example of "textbook Nazi propaganda".

Gazawood Twitter account In April 2025, FakeReporter reported that Ostrovsky was one of 30 prominent Twitter accounts promoting content from Gazawood, an Israeli Twitter account which attempts to discredit Palestinians by claiming they are exaggerating or faking their casualties.

Criticism of South Africa During South Africa's genocide case against Israel at the International Criminal Court, Ostrovsky accused South Africa of committing blood libel and of being the "legal arm of Hamas".

In an interview with Mishpacha magazine, Ostrovsky said, “Essentially, it is no more than a blood libel and act of lawfare, in which South Africa is willingly serving as pro bono counsel for the Iranian regime and Hamas”.

Ostrovsky Stanislav Pavlovschi, a Moldovan politician from the Dignity and Truth Platform, wrote a January 2024 article for The Hill that said:

Gaza Strip population statistics controversy

In December 2024, Ostrovsky and IDF military officer John Spencer co-authored an opinion piece in Newsweek criticizing Amnesty International's characterization of Israel's actions in Gaza as genocide, which they described as "no less than a blood libel". The article originally stated: To demonstrate just how utterly ludicrous Amnesty's accusation of genocide is, one only needs to see that, according to the CIA World Factbook, the population in Gaza has actually increased 2 percent in the last year. This is the very opposite of seeking to destroy, in whole or in part or in any way, a group of people.

Writing about the Gaza genocide in 2025 In a September 2025 article he wrote for The Jerusalem Post he maintained his stance that Israel was not guilty of genocide in Gaza.

Move to Australia He lived in Israel for 13 years before moving to Australia at the end of November 2025. He is now the head of the Sydney office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC). When interviewing Ostrovsky, Jerusalem Post editor Zvika Klein compared the organisation to APAC in the United States, and Ostrovsky replied, "its primary missions is the combating of anti-semitism, but also supporting Israel and the Australia Israel alliance". In a reflection on the Bondi attack, one of his friends in Israel opined that, " I see his new role as his miluim, his IDF reserve duty".

After he was grazed by a bullet in the Bondi Beach shooting, several media reports described him as having also "survived" the 7 October 2023 attacks in Israel (see above).

Ostrovsky and Syrian Australian Ahmed al-Ahmed were the first two wounded survivors of the Bondi Beach shooting to waive their right to name suppression in the prosecution of alleged ISIS terrorist Naveed Akram.

Writing and media appearances

Newspapers and magazines

Opinion articles

(about the Sheikh Jarrah controversy) (about allegations of genocide in the October 7 attacks)

Television interviews Interview on South African TV station SABC:

Social media Ostrovsky has one of . In 2016, Jewish Telegraphic Agency included him on their list of the '25 most influential people' on 'Jewish Twitter', ranked 16th. In 2025, The Jerusalem Post included him on their list of "50 Most Influential Jews", ranked 45th in a group entry of "seven pro-Israel influencers" that also included Gal Gadot (Israel actress and model), Siggy Flicker (Real Housewives of New Jersey), Hen Mazzig (social media influencer), Hillel Neuer (executive director of UN Watch), Noa Tishby (Israeli actress and model), and (social media strategist).

Contributions to books Following the 14 December 2025, Islamic State-inspired terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in East Sydney, Australia, Ostrovsky's brother-in-law, Rabbi Menachem Creditor, published We Will Prevail: Voices, Fury and Faith After Bondi, an anthology of essays, poems and firsthand reflections brought together in the immediate wake of the antisemitic terror attack. The anthology, which includes a searing foreword by Ostrovsky, as a survivor of the attack.