Bondi Beach Attack Highlights Rising Antisemitism in Australia

Two gunmen opened fire on a crowd gathered to celebrate Hanukkah at Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 15 people and injuring dozens in what Australian authorities described as a mass shooting with potential antisemitic motive. Victims ranged in age from 10 to 87 and included two rabbis and a Holocaust survivor. Police said the attackers were a 50-year-old man who was killed at the scene and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram, who was tackled and disarmed by a bystander and remains under arrest in a Sydney hospital in critical condition. Investigators also found three improvised explosive devices at the scene, and authorities noted the weapons were obtained legally. While officials cautioned that the exact motive was not yet determined, the attack drew immediate connections to a surge in antisemitic incidents linked to the Gaza war and Israel’s response in the region.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack as antisemitic and a horrific act of terrorism, saying that “an attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.” He stressed that the government would address antisemitism as a matter of national security and social cohesion. Albanese has previously highlighted measures aimed at curbing anti-Jewish hatred, including appointing a dedicated Antisemitism Envoy and introducing mandatory jail sentences for Nazi salutations. He noted Australia’s broader foreign-policy stance, including recognizing a Palestinian state in September, a position that has fed ongoing political debate over the country’s role in the Israel-Hamas conflict. The Israeli prime minister weighed in, laying blame for the anti-Jewish violence on the Australian government and accusing it of allowing antisemitism to “spread.”

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Criminologists and observers say the attack reflects longer-running tensions that have simmered since Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks and Israel’s subsequent military campaign. Clarke Jones, a terrorism criminologist at the Australian National University, said the violence was not unexpected given a “pressure cooker” of isolation and disaffection that can push marginalized people toward extreme viewpoints. He cautioned that investigators will need time to determine whether personal grievances or broader political grievances drove the assault, noting that ASIO had previously questioned Akram for extremist links in 2019 but did not categorize him as an immediate threat.

The public safety shock comes as Australia’s Jewish community—about 117,000 people in a population of around 28 million—has reported a near fivefold rise in hate crimes, including firebombings, arson, graffiti and hate speech, since Israel’s military response to Hamas’s Oct. 7 attacks. ASIO’s director-general Mike Burgess said the prospect of deadly antisemitic violence is a top priority for the security agency. In the wake of the Bondi attack, community leaders and faith groups issued swift condemnations, while a bystander-hero who tackled Akram, Ahmed al-Ahmed, a Muslim father of two, received widespread praise and a fundraising drive that raised more than $365,000 in about 12 hours.

But the aftermath has also seen troubling incidents, including reports of a vandalized Muslim cemetery in Sydney and a bystander removal at a Bondi memorial after a disturbance involving a woman wearing a keffiyeh. Criminologists warn that the fear of copycat violence remains real, and Jones stressed the need for sustained interfaith outreach to prevent further retaliation or simmering tensions.

As Australia processes this tragedy, political voices on all sides have weighed in. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley criticized Albanese for failing to protect Australian Jews, while Netanyahu’s office asserted that Canberra’s policy choices helped “let the disease” of antisemitism spread and contributed to the violence witnessed at Bondi. Albanese has argued that his government is choosing a path of diplomacy and domestic resilience—underlining that the nation has “no place in Australia for antisemitism” and “no place for hatred.” The upcoming days and weeks will test Australia’s ability to balance security, civil rights, and a national conversation about foreign-policy alignment with its staunch ally, the United States, in a region where violence and rhetoric continue to escalate.