‘Fear has killed our dream’: Avner’s Bakery prepares to close after two years of threats

Avner’s Bakery, the popular Jewish bagel shop in Sydney’s Surry Hills, is preparing to close its doors, citing sustained antisemitic harassment and escalating safety concerns following the recent violence in Bondi.

Owner Ed Halmagyi confirmed the decision in a message to supporters, describing it as heartbreaking but unavoidable after nearly two years of abuse and threats linked to the business’s identity as a publicly Jewish establishment.

The closure comes days after the Bondi Beach massacre, which Halmagyi said marked a turning point. Speaking to the Daily Telegraph, he said he felt “so damn stupid” for believing the situation would not spiral into something far worse.

“We have been five to six days a week subject to graffiti, vandalism, hate letters and busted windows. It goes on and on,” he said. “For two years I’ve put up with this.”

Halmagyi said both the business and he personally were referenced during police investigations, prompting contact with NSW Police, the State Crime Command and the Australian Federal Police.

“A popular and high-profile Jewish bakery-cafe presents an easy target for those who want to do violence,” he said. “There is no feasible way to make it safer in any practical way without driving away customers.” He added that fear alone was enough to keep people away, even without a specific threat.

Speaking to ABC Sydney radio, Halmagyi said he should have recognised earlier how serious the threat to Jewish Australians had become.

“It was just building, and I was so wrong,” he said. “I feel utterly stupid.”

Avner’s Bakery opened on Bourke Street, Surry Hills in February 2024 and quickly became a local fixture, known for its New York-style bagels, Jewish baking traditions and welcoming cafe atmosphere. Halmagyi drew on his Hungarian-Jewish heritage and his grandmother’s recipes when establishing the bakery, keeping it open from 2am until 6.30pm daily and emphasising community from the outset.

The bakery attracted Jewish and non-Jewish customers alike and regularly sold out of core items. It also became a visible symbol of Jewish life in inner-city Sydney, proudly flying the Israeli flag and hosting informal community gatherings. That visibility, Halmagyi said, ultimately became a liability.

The business has faced repeated antisemitic targeting since October 2024, when it was defaced with graffiti including inverted red triangles, a Hamas symbol, and received a handwritten note reading “Be careful”. The harassment escalated to verbal abuse, hate mail, broken windows and, on some occasions, animal faeces being thrown at the premises.

“The first thing I had to do was remove stickers from the outside of the business saying ‘Jews kill babies’ and ‘go back to where you came from’,” Halmagyi said. “Later in the day the police came by to give us an update on some existing threats to myself and to the business.”

He described one incident in which a man drove past the bakery yelling abuse at staff in front of dozens of customers.

“Everyone goes ‘oh, that’s awful’, and I’m like, ‘no, that’s just Sunday’,” he said.

In response to the targeting, Halmagyi wrote the names of Israeli soldiers killed since October 7 on the front of the bakery, a gesture that drew both support and further hostility.

On 18 December, Halmagyi advised supporters the business was preparing to close and said he hoped someone might purchase the assets, even if the bakery does not continue operating.

“Understandable fear, and the real potential of harm, have killed our dream,” he said.

The closure has intensified concern within Sydney’s Jewish community about the ability of openly Jewish institutions and businesses to operate safely in prominent public locations. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has documented more than 3,700 antisemitic incidents in the two years following October 7, 2023, almost five times the previous annual average and the largest spike recorded across major Jewish communities outside Israel.

Halmagyi said accountability for rising antisemitism extends beyond those who carry out attacks.

“The responsibility does not just lie with those who pick up weapons and commit violence,” he told the Telegraph. “It unfortunately lands with everyone who refuses to act to prevent it.”