Sydney Hanukkah horror at Bondi Beach sparks criticism of post–Oct 7 extremism

Sunday’s deadly terrorist attack on Australian Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney has been something the country’s small but historic community has feared since a wave of… Anti-Semitic The events began in the wake of the Hamas massacre on October 7, 2023 in Israel.

While Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack – describing it as a “targeted attack on Australian Jews on the first day of Hanukkah” – his critics say the Labor government has failed to adequately respond to the alarming rise in anti-Semitic incidents across the country.

Avi Yamini of Rebel News Australia, who has been documenting the attacks against the community, told Fox News Digital that just days after the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, “mobs of Islamic extremists were openly chasing Jews here in Australia, chanting ‘Where are the Jews’ outside the Sydney Opera House. Since then, synagogues and child care centers have been firebombed and repeated warnings ignored. With no real government action to address the problem, tonight is horrific.” The attack in Bondi “It was tragically inevitable and is unlikely to be the last.”

Israeli officials blame Australian government after Bondi Beach shooting: ‘Myriad warning signs’

Anti-Semitic graffiti in a Jewish area of ​​Melbourne, Australia. (Executive Council of Australian Jewry)

He said: “The Australian Labor government has been unwilling to act decisively, in part because of its political dependence on the votes of the Muslim community. As a result, many Australian Jews now face a devastating wake-up call that this country is no longer as safe for us as it once was. I believe many will now seriously consider moving to Israel.”

Australia’s Jewish community concerned about rising anti-Semitism: ‘Fear and anxiety’

Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, center, gestures as he makes his way through a crowd of people after visiting Adas Israel Temple in Melbourne, Australia, Tuesday, December 10, 2024. (Photo by Joel Carrette/AAP via AP)

Adding to the anger, Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced criticism for not noting this in an earlier statement published On X That the deadly attack was directed at Australian Jews.

In the aftermath of the attack, a reporter confronted Albanese with concerns about his government’s response to anti-Semitism, citing his government’s recognition of a Palestinian state, the Labor ministers’ attacks on the Israeli government and their refusal to visit the sites of the October 7 massacres, and the simultaneous appointment of special envoys on Islamophobia and anti-Semitism. The reporter asked Albanese whether his government takes anti-Semitism seriously.

Anti-Semitic attackers violently target an Israeli synagogue and restaurant in Australia

Synagogue members retrieve items from Adas Israel Synagogue on December 6, 2024 in Melbourne, Australia. An arson attack on Melbourne’s Adas Israel Synagogue forced worshipers to flee as flames tore through the building early Friday morning. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the incident as an anti-Semitic act, stressing that such violence in a place of worship is unacceptable in Australia. (Asanka Ratnayake/Getty Images)

“Yes, we took it seriously,” Albanese replied. “And we continued to work. We continued to work with the leaders of the Jewish community. We continued to receive all advice from the security services to put in place special measures, and we will continue to do so.”

Albanese’s press office did not respond to Fox News Digital’s request for comment on frustrations with the prime minister’s response to the mass shooting attack.

High-visibility jacket of an anti-Israel demonstrator during a rally against the Jewish state at the Sydney Harbor Bridge in Australia. August 2025. (Aayush Kumar/SOPA Images/LightRocket via Getty Images)

Executive Council of Australian Jewry ECAJ recently documented 1,654 anti-Jewish incidents across Australia between 1 October 2024 and 30 September 2025, “on top of 2,062 incidents nationwide in the previous year.”

He also noted that “anti-Semitic incidents in Australia remain at historically high levels, at nearly five times the average annual number prior to 7 October 2023… While there has been a marginal decline from last year’s all-time high, the most serious categories of incidents, including arson attacks against synagogues, nurseries and other Jewish institutions, are higher than in any previous year on record.”

Some of the most shocking incidents to hit Australia’s Jewish community from 7 October 2023 until Sunday’s terrorist attack include:

Melbourne

Masked individuals set fire to the Adas Israel Synagogue in Ripponlea while worshipers were performing morning prayers. The fire caused widespread damage and injured one worshipper.

Australian healthcare workers threaten an Israeli man and claim they killed Jews in their care on camera

Sydney:

The Alawa Synagogue in Sydney is marked with swastika graffiti. The next day, the Newtown Synagogue, also in Sydney, was similarly defaced. The previous week, a car in Sydney was spray-painted with an anti-Semitic phrase.

Property has been severely damaged at a child care center near a Jewish school and synagogue in Sydney during an arson attack. Anti-Semitic graffiti was found inside.

A car was set on fire in a Sydney Jewish community, and up to seven homes in the area also caught fire It was vandalized with anti-Semitic graffiti.

Two Sydney healthcare workers speaking on the social media platform Chatrouletka with an Israeli man said they would refuse to treat Israeli patients and had previously killed Israeli patients.

Police escort anti-Israel protesters outside the Maison Israeli restaurant on Hardware Lane in Melbourne, Friday, July 4, 2025. Families were horrified when one of Australia’s oldest synagogues was targeted by arsonists, and protesters chanted slogans outside an Israeli restaurant. (AAP Image/Josh Stanier/via Reuters)

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Gideon Saar the foreigner An Israeli minister expressed his sadness to his Australian counterpart, Penny Wong, over the phone. On Sunday, Sa’ar said he told the Australian Foreign Minister that “the security of Australia’s Jewish community will only be achieved through a real change in the atmosphere. Calls such as ‘Globalize the Intifada’, ‘From the river to the sea Palestine will be free’ and ‘Death to the IDF’ are not legitimate, are not part of freedom of expression, and inevitably lead to what we have seen today. The Australian government must take strong action against the use of these antisemitic calls.”

Populist Australian Senator Pauline Hanson said on the Hanson said Australia’s Jewish community has “the same right to live in peace and harmony as all Australians” and called on authorities “to be honest when revealing the identities and backgrounds of these killers.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.