A Jewish gym owner is furious the police are refusing to pursue court action against a suspected Islamist who threatened to shoot him in the head.
Avi Yemini, a former Israeli soldier, contacted Victorian authorities earlier this year after recorded a telephone threat was made to his IDF Training gym in Melbourne’s south-east.
The police in June informed him they had tracked down and arrested the alleged perpetrator, who was recorded in March making a series of vile, anti-Semitic comments in a one-minute call.
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Gym owner Avi Yemini believes political correctness is stopping police pursuing court action
A man who threatened Israeli army veteran Avi Yemini (pictured) was arrested back in June
However, on Tuesday the same acting sergeant emailed him to say court action would not be pursued.
‘This email is to inform you that the matter that you reported to me has not been authorised to proceed to court, ‘ she said.
Mr Yemini said he was ‘shocked’ at the news, considering he had previously been told it was an ‘open and shut’ case.
‘If it was an Anglo-Aussie who threatened a Muslim it would be a different ending,’ he told Daily Mail Australia on Monday night.
Mr Yemini suspects the caller was a Muslim who was upset with his stance against Islamist extremists, and believes the police didn’t want to upset Muslims.
An abusive ‘Palestine supporter’ threatened to shoot Jewish gym owner Avi Yemini (pictured) in the head and demanded he ‘get the f**k out of the country’ earlier this year
‘From their owns words, it looks like their superiors have decided not to pursue, it’s someone higher up,’ he said.
‘There’s no reason they’ve given me other than the fact it may stir up some tension in the community.’
He has made a video for his 89,500 Facebook followers asking if police were afraid to pursue court action against a Muslim.
‘What are they not sharing? Is it because he’s a poor minority?,’ he asked.
‘Is it because he’s not politically correct to take this to court?
An acting sergeant from Caulfield Police Station emailed Avi Yemini on Tuesday with the news
‘What is the reason they are refusing to prosecute somebody who threatened my life because I speak about the religion of peace?.’
Mr Yemini, who is running for a Victorian upper house seat at next year’s state election, said he would continue campaigning against violent Islamists.
‘I dare speak up about things people are unwilling to discuss,’ he said.
‘I won’t be intimidated. I will fight tooth and nail to ensure this goes to court.’
In that abusive phone call, a man threatened to shoot the gym owner in the head and demanded he ‘get the f**k out of the country’.
This caller was recorded exchanging pleasantries with the gym’s offsite reception, who offered to deliver a message to Mr Yemini.
‘Is he the ex-IDF bloke?’ the unidentified caller asked, to which the jovial call centre operator replied ‘yeah 100 per cent’.
‘So he knows how to shoot Palestinians?’ was the response from the increasingly agitated caller on the recording obtained by Daily Mail Australia.
The staunchly professional operator took it in his stride, saying ‘I’m not too sure to be honest with you’, before the caller launched into an anti-Semitic tirade.
‘He does, the f**kin’ c**k sucker. Well I wanna learn how to shoot, because I wanna shoot him in the f**kin’ head. He’s a f**kin’ c**k sucking Zionist. Why are you even working there mate?’
After a short pause the operator repeated that he was just the offsite reception, but was quickly cut off.
The caller is believed to have exchanged pleasantries with the gym’s offsite reception, who offered to deliver a message to Mr Yemini
‘You tell Avi to get the f**k out of the country, the f**kin’ c**k sucking, f**kin’ Jew,’ the caller snarled.
Mr Yemini said he did not know who the man on the line was, but had traced the call to Deer Park, a predominantly Muslim suburb of Melbourne.
He said the matter had been reported to police, who were trying to identify the caller.
Mr Yemini said the operator who took the call was ‘very good under the circumstances. It was pretty vile and full on’.
‘We’ve had threats and anti-Semitic things said to us in the past, but this is the worst ever,’ he told Daily Mail Australia in June.
Mr Yemini said he did not know who the man on the line was, but had traced the call to Deer Park, a predominantly Muslim suburb of Melbourne
Avi Yemini said it appeared police are unwilling to pursue court action against a ‘poor minority’
Mr Yemini said his employees were on high alert for any potential threats and he was being more vigilant than usual about his and his family’s safety.
‘We are taking it seriously as a real threat and trying to shut it down before it escalates,’ he said.
IDF Training runs a fitness gym and classes in Krav Maga, a martial art used by Israeli special forces.
It was frequented by 10-year-old Thalia Hakin, who was killed in the Bourke Street car rampage in January, and her sister Maggie who was injured.