A 67-year-old Bondi woman has been charged with offensive behaviour after police alleged she directed antisemitic comments at Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin and others at the site of the Bondi Beach massacre.
Officers from Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command were called to Archer Park about 4.30pm on Wednesday after the woman allegedly confronted a group visiting the site.
“Police will allege the woman verbally abused members of the group making antisemitic comments,” NSW Police said.
Police initially spoke to those involved and said no further action would be taken. Following further inquiries, the woman was issued with a Court Attendance Notice on Friday.
She is due to appear in Waverley Local Court on 23 September.
Ryvchin welcomed the charge and thanked police for their response.
“We’re grateful to NSW Police for their professionalism in investigating and laying charges promptly,” he wrote on Instagram.
“The Jewish community will not succumb to hatred and vilification. We will not allow the desecration of a sacred site.”
Ryvchin said antizionism should not be treated as harmless political commentary when it placed Jewish people at risk.
“We cannot turn antisemites into good and rational people. But we can exact consequences when they endanger our society and break the law,” he said.
The alleged confrontation occurred during a visit to Archer Park by Sydney Swans players and club leaders, who were meeting members of the Jewish community and hearing from a survivor of the December 14 terrorist attack.
Ryvchin said the woman asked why “Zionists” were at the park and demanded to know what an “evil Zionist” was doing there.
He said the comments were made in front of his colleague, who was shot during the massacre in which 15 people were killed.
A Daily Telegraph reporter who witnessed part of the confrontation said the woman described herself as a local, recognised Ryvchin from television and other media appearances, and appeared hostile.
“The fact that this occurred at the massacre site and in view of police who were patrolling the area is a fresh reminder of the Jewish experience in Australia in our time and the brazen nature of degenerate antisemitism,” Ryvchin said following the incident.
The confrontation was also raised at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion by ECAJ co-CEO Peter Wertheim.
Wertheim said two of his colleagues were at Archer Park during a goodwill visit by a football club when one was subjected to verbal abuse.
“One of my colleagues was accosted with some verbal abuse from a woman who was present right at the site where 15 innocent people were massacred,” he said.
“That’s the kind of social environment we are living in at the moment, and we would prefer not to live in that sort of environment.”
The woman has not been publicly named.
The allegations have not been proven and the matter is before the court.