Sydney Hanukkah horror at Bondi Seashore sparks criticism of put up–Oct 7 extremism

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Sunday’s lethal terrorist assault on Australian Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney was one thing the nation’s small however historic group had feared since a wave of antisemitic incidents started following Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023 bloodbath in Israel.

Whereas the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, condemned the assault — calling it "a focused assault on Jewish Australians on the primary day of Hanukkah,"— his critics say his Labor authorities has didn't appropriately reply to the alarming rise in antisemitic incidents throughout the nation.

Avi Yemini of Insurgent Information Australia, who has been documenting the assaults in opposition to the group, instructed Fox Information Digital that simply days after Hamas’ Oct. 7, 2023, assault, "mobs of Islamic extremists had been already brazenly searching Jews right here in Australia, chanting ‘the place’s the Jews’ outdoors the Sydney Opera Home. Since then, synagogues and childcare facilities have been firebombed and repeated warnings ignored. With no significant authorities motion to confront the issue, tonight’s horrific attack in Bondi was tragically inevitable and is unlikely to be the final."

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Antisemitic graffiti in a Jewish space in Melbourne, Australia. (Govt Council of Australian Jewry )

He stated: "The Australian Labor authorities has been unwilling to behave decisively, partially due to its political reliance on Islamic group votes. In consequence, many Australian Jews at the moment are going through a devastating wake-up name that this nation is not as protected for us because it as soon as was. I consider many will now be critically contemplating a transfer to Israel."

AUSTRALIA'S JEWISH COMMUNITY ALARMED BY RISING ANTISEMITISM: 'FEAR AND ANXIETY'

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, middle, gestures as he pushes his well past a crowd after visiting the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, Dec. 10, 2024. (Joel Carrett/AAP Picture by way of AP)

Including to the anger, Australia’s Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese confronted criticism for failing to notice in an earlier assertion posted on X that the lethal assault was directed at Jewish Australians.

Following the assault, a reporter confronted Albanese with issues about his authorities’s response to antisemitism, citing his authorities’s recognition of a Palestinian state, Labor ministers attacking the Israeli authorities and refusing to go to the websites of the Oct. 7 massacres, and the simultaneous appointment of particular envoys for Islamophobia and antisemitism. The reporter requested Albanese whether or not his authorities had taken antisemitism critically.

ANTISEMITIC ATTACKERS VIOLENTLY TARGET SYNAGOGUE, ISRAELI RESTAURANT IN AUSTRALIA

Members of the Synagogue recuperate objects from the Adass Israel Synagogue on Dec. 06, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. An arson assault on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne compelled congregants to flee as flames engulfed the constructing early on Friday morning. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the incident as an antisemitic act, emphasizing that such violence at a spot of worship is unacceptable in Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Photographs)

"Sure, we have now taken it critically," Albanese replied. "And we’ve continued to behave. We’ve continued to work with Jewish group leaders. We’ve continued to take all the recommendation from the safety companies to place in place particular measures, and we'll proceed to take action."

Albanese’s press workplace didn't reply to Fox Information Digital’s request for remark about frustrations relating to the prime minister’s response to the mass taking pictures assault.

An anti-Israel protestor's high-vis jacket throughout a march in opposition to the Jewish state by the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. Aug. 2025. (Ayush Kumar/SOPA Photographs/LightRocket by way of Getty Photographs)

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) not too long ago documented 1,654 anti-Jewish incidents throughout Australia between 1 Oct, 2024 and 30 Sept. 2025, "along with 2,062 incidents nationwide the yr earlier than."

It additionally famous that, "antisemitic incidents in Australia stay at traditionally excessive ranges, at nearly 5 instances the common annual quantity earlier than Oct. 7, 2023… Whereas there was a marginal discount from final yr’s all-time excessive, essentially the most critical classes of incidents, together with arson assaults in opposition to synagogues, pre‑colleges and different Jewish establishments, are greater than in any earlier yr on report."

A few of the extra stunning incidents to hit Australia’s Jewish group since Oct. 7, 2023, up till Sunday's terror assault embrace:

Melbourne Masked people setting a fireplace in Ripponlea’s Adass Israel Synagogue whereas congregants stated morning prayers. The hearth precipitated widespread injury and injured one worshipper.

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Sydney: Sydney’s Allawah Synagogue was tagged with swastika graffiti. The next day, the Newtown Synagogue, additionally in Sydney, was equally defaced. The week prior, a automotive in Sydney had been spray-painted with an antisemitic phrase.

Main property injury was inflicted on a childcare middle close to a Jewish faculty and synagogue in Sydney throughout an arson assault. Antisemitic graffiti was discovered inside.

A automotive was set on hearth in a Jewish group in Sydney, and as many as seven properties within the space had been vandalized with antisemitic graffiti .

Two healthcare employees in Sydney talking on the social platform Chatrouletka with an Israeli man stated that they might refuse remedy to Israeli sufferers and had beforehand killed Israeli sufferers.

Police escort anti-Israeli protesters outdoors an Israeli restaurant Miznon on {Hardware} Lane in Melbourne, Friday, July 4, 2025. Households had been terrified as one in all Australia's oldest synagogues was focused by arsonists and protesters shouted chants outdoors an Israeli restaurant. (AAP Picture/Josh Stanyer/ by way of Reuters)

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Gideon Sa’ar, the foreign minister of Israel, expressed his sorrow to his Australian counterpart Penny Wong by cellphone. On X on Sunday, Sa’ar stated that he instructed Australia’s international minister that "safety for the Jewish group in Australia will likely be achieved solely via an actual change within the public ambiance. Calls equivalent to ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ ‘From the River to the Sea Palestine Shall be Free,’ and ‘Loss of life to the IDF’ will not be authentic, will not be a part of freedom of speech, and inevitably result in what we witnessed right now. The Australian authorities should take sturdy motion in opposition to using these antisemitic calls."

Populist Australian Sen. Pauline Hanson stated on X that Albanese "by no means heeded the warning indicators, together with the weekly antisemitic protests throughout our nation, hate speech from sure spiritual clerics, our obnoxious universities and possible terrorist alert." Hanson stated the Jewish group in Australia has "the identical proper to reside in peace and concord as all Australians," and known as on authorities to "be trustworthy when revealing the identities and backgrounds of those murderers."

The Related Press contributed to this report.

Beth Bailey is a reporter overlaying Afghanistan, the Center East, Asia, and Central America. She was previously a civilian intelligence analyst with the Division of the Military. You may comply with Beth on Twitter @BWBailey85