Former Australian of the Year Grace Tame has issued a public apology — nearly six months after the fact — for comments she made on ABC Radio in which she dismissed accounts of Hamas sexual violence against Israeli women during the October 7, 2023 attacks as "propaganda" that had been "debunked". Tame addressed the controversy in a video posted to Instagram on Thursday, saying she regretted not clarifying her position sooner.
What Tame said in her apology
In the video statement, Tame was careful to distinguish between her earlier remarks and her stated personal beliefs about survivors of sexual violence.
"There is something I have wanted to clarify for a while, which I regret not clarifying sooner. I stand with survivors of sexual violence everywhere, no matter who they are," she said.
Tame acknowledged that her March radio comments had been widely interpreted as a refusal to believe Israeli women who alleged they were sexually assaulted during the attacks — an interpretation she pushed back on, insisting that was never her intention.
"Comments I made on ABC radio in March this year were misinterpreted to mean that I disbelieve Israeli survivors of sexual violence. This is not the case," she said. "I always have, and always will stand with survivors of sexual violence."
She cited a Human Rights Watch finding that investigators were unable to find evidence to support claims that Israeli women were raped en masse on October 7, while simultaneously stating she does not deny individual accounts of rape, including gang rape, made by Israeli women.
"I believe Israeli survivors, I believe Jewish survivors, as I believe all survivors. While the intention of my remarks was not to imply otherwise, I acknowledge and sincerely apologise for any harm their mischaracterisation has caused," Tame said.
She also used the statement to reiterate her criticism of the Israeli government, saying: "I do not hate Israelis. I do not hate Jewish people. I abhor the crimes of the State of Israel."
The original comments that sparked the backlash
The controversy traces back to an ABC Radio Sydney interview in March, during which Tame was asked about her involvement in a protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog. When pressed to condemn specific claims about the October 7 attacks, she refused, characterising the line of questioning as a bad-faith manoeuvre.
"I'm not going to sink to the level of entertaining any kind of propaganda," she said at the time. "Those things have been debunked. Look, violence is, let's be real, violence is happening on both sides. But this is not a fair fight."
She went further, suggesting that being pressured to condemn particular acts was itself a tactic used by those she described as "bad faith actors" seeking to "trip people up."
The comments triggered a significant wave of public complaints and drew sharp criticism from those who argued Tame was dismissing the experiences of sexual violence survivors — a particularly striking charge given her prominent role as an advocate for abuse victims in Australia.
A delayed response to sustained criticism
What is notable about Thursday's statement is the timeline: almost six months elapsed between the original interview and the apology. Tame herself acknowledged the delay, saying she had "wanted to clarify for a while" and regretted not doing so sooner.
The apology arrives amid ongoing, often heated public debate in Australia over the conflict in Gaza and how public figures navigate questions about Israeli and Palestinian suffering. Tame's case highlights the particular scrutiny applied to advocates whose personal credibility is built on championing victims of sexual violence.
It remains to be seen whether the statement will satisfy those who felt her original remarks caused genuine harm, or whether the near-six-month delay will itself become a fresh point of contention. Tame offered no explanation for why it took so long to address the controversy publicly.
