From grief to hope: reflecting on a solidarity visit to Australia 

A distance of 14,000 kilometres separates Sydney, Australia, from Jerusalem. Yet it is a distance that seems to vanish in a moment of a single embrace.

I recently returned from a moving journey of support for the Jewish community in Sydney. That community is made up of diverse views and different people, but it is united by one common denominator—deep pain over the devastating terror attack on the first night of Chanukah, and alongside it, deep love for Israel and the Jewish people. 

Since the terror attack in Bondi Beach, The Jewish Agency for Israel has been providing extensive support to the Australian Jewish community. This includes our dedicated shlichim (Israeli emissaries) who were already on the ground; resilience-building and trauma-response expert delegations that departed for Australia in the first hours after the attack; grants from the Fund for Victims of Terror; and the support of the Arava-Australia Partnership within our Partnership2Gether global network. We were there from the very first moment—and we will remain there forever. 

There were moving, human, and truly special moments throughout the journey. Three of them tell the story and capture the depth of this bond.

The first came at the conclusion of a ceremony hosted by the Zionist Federation of Australia and attended by the President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, for the entire Jewish community. The national anthem began to play. Behind me, a vast crowd of 9,000 Jews sang through tears, demonstrating the yearning of the Jewish soul. Our eyes gaze toward Zion. Our hope is not yet lost.

The second was a wholehearted embrace with Ahmed Al-Ahmed, the civilian who, with his bare hands, charged at the terrorist in Bondi Beach and neutralised him. Ahmed was born in Syria—the very country in whose name a Syrian soldier set out to kill my brother, Eran, and his friends during the Yom Kippur War. Yet Ahmed chose not to stand idly by. He risked his life and saved many Jewish lives. Deeply moved, I hugged him. 

The third was my first visit to Bondi Beach, to the site of the attack. I stood beneath the large menorah, reflecting on the Jewish bloodshed. I was reminded of the story of Chanukah; the few against the many. But unlike the events of Chanukah, behind those few stands an entire nation. A strong country. At the foot of the menorah, I laid a red flower—a poppy from the Gaza Envelope, joining the poppies now blooming there in soil soaked with pain. It is a symbol of our shared grief and of arvut hadadit (mutual responsibility), but also a sign of growth and renewal, as well as the certainty that together, no one will overcome us. 

Among the 15 murdered in the horrific terror attack was Matilda. Only 10-years-old, she was a sweet child with bright eyes. When I met the bereaved families, I saw her sister. The resemblance was unmistakable. It was heartbreaking. 

There were Israel-haters who tried to prevent this important visit—a visit that was entirely a statement against antisemitism and in favour of solidarity. But we stood there with pride, heads held high, believing in the justice of our cause.  

The antisemitism that is present throughout Australia concerns the community. There is a daily fear of escalation, of another terror attack. This threat to the future of the Jewish community leaves us no choice but to continue fulfilling the vision of the ingathering of exiles, to take pride in our work, and to uphold the commandment to “love your neighbour as you love yourself.” We must live by the value of mutual responsibility, stand proudly in our Jewish-Zionist identity, continue strengthening world Jewry, and strive to build a society in Israel that serves as a beacon of light and hope. If we follow that blueprint, Israel can be a source of strength, pride, and security to every Jew around the world.

The author is Major General (res.) Doron Almog, Chairman of the Executive of The Jewish Agency for Israel. In recent days, he visited Australia as part of a solidarity delegation of Israel’s National Institutions to the Jewish community in Sydney.