Jewish leaders state Bondi Beach terror attack was ‘inevitable’
In the wake of a horrific terrorist attack at a Chanukah celebration on Bondi Beach that claimed 16 lives and injured dozens more, prominent Jewish community leaders held a sombre press conference near the site of the shooting on the morning of 15 December 2025.
The event, declared an antisemitic terrorist incident by authorities, has sent shockwaves through Australia and the Jewish world and prompted urgent calls for action against escalating hate.
Alex Ryvchin and David Ossip speak to Susan Ley and other Liberal leaders at the memorial
Accompanied by other communal leaders, David Ossip, president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, and Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, addressed the media, expressing profound grief and frustration over what they described as a long-foreseen tragedy.
Ossip and Ryvchin stood besides a growing makeshift memorial of flowers and candles where mourners had gathered to pay their respects. Ossip opened by highlighting the Jewish community’s repeated warnings about the dangers of unchecked antisemitism.
He referred to the incident as “the day that we have long dreaded”, emphasising the community’s prior warnings about escalating threats.
“We, as a community, have warned repeatedly that it was only a matter of time until blood was spilt during the summer of terror earlier this year,” he said. “Last night, tragically, our luck ran out when our community was subjected to a heinous terrorist attack.”
David Ossip speaks to media
Ossip stressed that antisemitism has “well and truly found a place in Australia” and urged political leaders to intensify efforts to combat it, criticising the federal government for being “very slow to come to grips” with the issue.
Ryvchin, a member of Bondi Chabad, the organisers of the Chanukah by the Sea celebration, was visibly emotional. He described the impact on the tight-knit Jewish community as devastating and irreversible.
He called the attack “very deliberate and very targeted”, adding that it was “not just a terrible day for the Jewish community, for Bondi, and for Sydney, but for all of Australia, and for the values we hold dear, that are the bedrock of what for so long has been our inclusive, harmonious society.”
He said the attack represented “an almighty blow to the Jewish community and one from which I fear the community may never recover.” He likened the community to a family, saying, “A community is but a family, and our family was ripped apart. Our family has been shredded.”
Ryvchin paid a heartfelt tribute to one of the victims, Rabbi Eli Schlanger of Bondi Chabad, calling him “the very best of us.” He described Schlanger as “a person who rose each day with a simple mission of doing good, whatever good he could find, whatever kind deeds he could perform.”
He noted Schlanger’s work visiting prisoners, providing kosher meals to those in public housing, and listening to their stories, adding, “There is no replacing him. There is none like him.” He mentioned he had held Schlanger’s newborn baby just four weeks prior, underscoring the personal loss.
Reflecting on the broader tragedy, Ryvchin stated, “If we were targeted deliberately in this way, it is something of a scale that none of us could ever have fathomed. It is a horrific thing.”
Alex Ryvchin speaks to media
The press conference came amid a flood of condemnations from national and international figures. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese visited the site early in the day, labelling the shooting “an act of evil” and pledging to tighten gun laws, stating the nation was in mourning.
Opposition figures, including Sussan Ley and Julian Leeser, also visited the site, embracing Ryvchin and Ossip and echoing calls for stronger action, noting that “a lot of words have been said; now some actions need to be taken.”
A steady stream of mourners brought flowers to lay at the makeshift memorial while, nearby, members of Chabad encouraged Jewish community members to lay tefillin.
The incident has intensified scrutiny of Australia’s response to rising antisemitism, with community leaders such as Ossip and Ryvchin pointing to a pattern of incidents, including death threats and firebombings.
Only two weeks earlier, the J7 Large Communities’ Task Force Against Antisemitism had gathered in Sydney and issued a statement expressing horror and heartbreak over the attack.
The Sydney Jewish community, while shattered, remains resilient, but as Ryvchin poignantly noted, full recovery may prove elusive. Authorities have urged vigilance, and counseling services have been mobilised for those affected.
