Bondi massacre was inevitable, Jewish group says
The government has been forced to defend its record on countering anti-Semitism after two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish event at Sydney’s most famous beach.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper Pic: Wikimedia Commons
The federal government’s record on combating antisemitism is under scrutiny as one Jewish group says the Bondi massacre was inevitable.
Police and intelligence officials are continuing to investigate the massacre at a Hanukkah celebration on Australia’s most famous beach.
Naveed Akram, 24, and his father Sajid Akram, 50, opened fire on attendees, killing 15 people and injuring many more.
Naveed is under police guard and likely to face criminal charges, while Sajid was killed at the scene.
Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday rejected suggestions his government had been slow to act on anti-Semitism.
He listed actions taken, including criminalising hate speech, advocating violence, funding Jewish community groups and promoting inclusivity for Jewish students and staff at university campuses.
“We have taken strong action. We’ll continue to work with the community,” he told reporters in Sydney.
“Antisemitism is a scourge. It’s been around for a long period of time. We need to do whatever we can to stamp it out.”
After the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue in 2024, the US-based Simon Wiesenthal Centre issued a travel warning for Jews coming to Australia.
Rabbi Abraham Cooper, the centre’s associate dean, said he wanted to remove the cautionary notice, but the attacks at Bondi made it difficult.
“You’d have to say that (Sunday’s) attack was inevitable,” Dr Cooper told AAP.
The influential rabbi said he had spoken with US Ambassador Kevin Rudd about anti-Semitic language in Australia but his concerns had been discounted.
Dr Cooper said he was particularly concerned about the language used by some pro-Palestinian protesters, who have compared the actions of the Netanyahu government to those of the Nazis.
“If, in fact, Israel’s a Nazi state, and her supporters are Nazis, what do you do with Nazis? You kill them,” he said.
“The basic underlying concerns and fears of an entire community were, at best, discounted and at worst … the signal received by those who hate Israel and hate Jews is you’re not going to be held accountable.”
Dr Cooper said the government needed to play a stronger leadership role in directing police and spy agencies to stamp out anti-Semitism.
“We want to have the robust, professional attention of the relevant police and intelligence groups, to take action against the cells that we all know exist,” he said.
