Bondi survivor Arsen Ostrovsky on dedicating his life to fighting for the Jewish state

Arsen Ostrovsky has built his career defending Israel in what he calls the world’s “most hostile arenas”. This week at the annual policy conference of the American Israel Public Affairs Committee (AIPAC) in Washington DC, that defence became deeply personal.

“Like many of you, I’ve dedicated my life to fighting for the Jewish state,” Ostrovsky told the audience.

“As an attorney focused on international law and human rights, I stood up and defended Israel in some of the world’s most hostile arenas: the United Nations, The Hague, the European Parliament.”

Ostrovsky, head of the Sydney office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council, said he has also “fought back in the New York Times, the BBC, and across every digital battlefield where Israel is demonised”.

He reminded delegates of AIPAC’s role in Israel’s security during his 13 years living there.

“Living in Israel for the past 13 years, I experienced firsthand your impact on Israel’s security, strength and safety,” he said. “Every time my family ran to our safe room and I heard the booms of the Iron Dome overhead, I knew that was the sound of your commitment.”

“Each time that Iran launched ballistic missiles at us, it was your work that helped protect us and minimise what could have been total devastation.”

He argued that efforts to weaken AIPAC are part of a broader effort to weaken Israel. “That is precisely why those who want to weaken Israel want to weaken you,” he said.

Late last year, Ostrovsky and his family returned to his native Australia. He said the move was motivated by a desire to strengthen the Australian Jewish community “amid increasing antisemitism” and to fight for Israel “from a different front”.

Just weeks after arriving in Sydney, on the first night of Chanukah, the family attended the Bondi Beach festival, a longstanding community celebration.

“The beach was packed with families and young children,” he said. “I was in line for food as my family waited for me to light the first candle of Chanukah together.”

“What happened next changed our lives forever,” he said. “I was shot in the head.”

He repeated the line slowly. “I was shot in the head. Even saying those words today still feels so surreal.”

Amid the chaos, unsure where his wife and children were, he sent his wife a photo with two words: “Love you.”

“The picture is hard to look at,” he said. “But it is important to see. By a matter of millimetres, I lived. The doctors told me that my survival was a miracle.”

Fifteen people were killed in the Bondi attack, including a 10-year-old girl named Matilda and 87-year-old Holocaust survivor Alexander Kleytman, he stated.

“I can’t change what happened, but we all have a responsibility to change what happens next.”

Ostrovsky framed the attack within a wider rise in antisemitism and hostility towards Israel globally.

“Our enemies are on the march, and we’ve seen how far they will go to try to tear us down in courtrooms and in newsrooms,” he said. “They will try to silence us in our political discourse. They will try to marginalise us in our homes and on our streets, in the places where we worship or merely enjoy the beauty of the beach.”

“They will try to eliminate us. But we will never let them win.”

He concluded with a call to collective resolve.

“Instead, we will give even more of ourselves to this work. We will stand taller. We will fight harder. And together, we will prevail. Am Yisrael Chai.”