(JNS) Israeli leaders on Sunday condemned a mass shooting at a Jewish Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, linking the attack to rising antisemitism in the country.
President Isaac Herzog, speaking at an event in Jerusalem, called the attack “vile” terrorism and said Israel’s “heart misses a beat” as the nation prays for the wounded and those killed. He urged the Australian government to combat the “enormous wave of antisemitism” plaguing Australian society.
Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he was “appalled” by the shooting, calling it the result of “antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years.” He cited protest chants of “Globalize the Intifada” and said the Australian government “must come to its senses” after receiving “countless warning signs.”
Defense Minister Israel Katz extended his “deepest condolences to the families of those murdered in the despicable terrorist attack carried out today in Australia against the Jewish community and Chabad emissaries, on the eve of the first night of the Chanukah holiday.”
Katz continued, “I wish the injured a swift recovery and stand in solidarity with members of the Jewish community who are confronting murderous hatred,” adding that the State of Israel “will continue to stand by Jewish communities around the world, support them, and fight with all its strength against antisemitism and terrorism—everywhere, at all times.”
Details of the attack
The attack occurred during the first night of the eight-day festival of Chanukah, as more than a thousand Jews gathered to light holiday candles at a Chabad event at Archer Park. At least 11 people were murdered, including a Chabad rabbi, and 29 others were wounded, among them at least two police officers in serious condition, on Sunday evening local time.
According to New South Wales Police, one man believed to be a shooter was killed, while another alleged shooter is in critical condition
Opposition leaders: ‘Enough is enough’
Opposition leader Yair Lapid of the Yesh Atid Party listed Boulder, Colo., Manchester, Washington and now Sydney as cities “becoming synonymous with deadly attacks against Jews,” calling for “immediate, decisive intervention” and saying “enough is enough.”
Benny Gantz, leader of the opposition National Unity Party, said the attack followed “genocidal cries for the destruction of Israel” and recent arson attacks on synagogues. Australian authorities “missed” warnings and must take “unprecedented measures” to protect Jewish communities, he said.
“Our hearts on the first eve of Chanukah are with the great Jewish communities of Sydney & Australia,” Gantz said.
Persistent antisemitism
A recent Executive Council of Australian Jewry report found alarmingly high levels of antisemitism continuing in the aftermath of the Oct. 7, 2023, massacre, despite a year-on-year decline from 2024’s record high. The most serious categories of incidents—including arson attacks against synagogues, preschools, and other Jewish institutions—reached their highest levels ever recorded over the past year.
The Dec. 3 ECAJ report highlights antisemitic arson attacks on Jewish community sites—Sydney’s Lewis’ Continental Kitchen in October 2024 and Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue in December 2024—that Australian intelligence has linked to Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, which Canberra subsequently designated a state sponsor of terrorism.
Other Israeli reactions
Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich said the attack recalled the Oct. 7 Hamas attack on Israel and demanded that Australia “crack down harshly on the rising antisemitism in the country and to protect its Jews.
“Our brothers and sisters in Australia and around the world, we are here with you and for you. On the eve of Chanukah, we receive yet another reminder of the millennia-old struggle that the Jewish people carries on its shoulders—a struggle between good and evil, between light and darkness, and between falsehood and truth. The light will prevail!” Smotrich wrote on his X account.
Religious Zionism Party lawmaker Ohad Tal, who chairs the Israel-Australia Parliamentary Friendship Group, said the shooting was “not fate” but “the result of antisemitism that is allowed to grow unchecked.
“When you support terror in the Middle East, you get terror in your backyard,” the MK said.
Gilad Kariv, a lawmaker for The Democrats Party, called on the Australian government to take decisive action to ensure the safety of Jews and combat rising antisemitism.
“It is the duty of the State of Israel to assist in the fight against antisemitism wherever it raises its ugly head,” Kariv said, announcing that the Knesset Committee on Immigration, Absorption and the Diaspora will hold a special discussion on the Sidney attack on Tuesday.
Israeli Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar pointed an accusing finger at the government in Canberra led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Australian Labor Party.
“It must be said plainly, without sugarcoating: Australia’s recognition of a Palestinian state was an official endorsement to the damned terrorists to harm Jews,” Zohar wrote on X. “The blood of our brothers and sisters is on your hands.”
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