Mass shooting at Jewish event on Bondi Beach follows rising antisemitism in Australia

TEL AVIV, Israel (AP) – At least 16 people were killed Sunday in an attack on a Hannukah celebration at a popular Sydney beach and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was quick to call it an act of antisemitic terrorism. Antisemitism has been on the rise in Australia, fueled in part by Israel’s war in Gaza, even as local Jewish groups have decried the lack of support from authorities.

Worldwide, Australia and Italy experienced the biggest increase in antisemitic attacks in 2024, according to Uriya Shavit, who oversees an annual report about global antisemitism from Tel Aviv University.

The numbers in these two countries rose while worldwide there was a slight decline in antisemitic attacks. Australia recorded 1,713 antisemitic incidents.

Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures.

“This was really one of the safest communities for Jews in history, characterized by religious tolerance and coexistence, and now Australian Jews are seriously asking whether they have a future in the country,” said Shavit. He cited an increasing legitimization of expressions of hatred toward Jews in the public discourse and the government’s lack of willingness to address the issue.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, with Chabad of Bondi and a key organizer of the event where Sunday’s shooting happened, was among the dead, according to Chabad, an international movement of ultra-Orthodox Judaism known for its public candle lightings in communities across the world.

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry, in a statement, called for government leaders to move beyond words.

“The time for talking is over. We need decisive leadership and action now to eradicate the scourge of antisemitism from Australia’s public life, for which the Jewish community has long been advocating. Government’s first duty is to keep its citizens safe,” the statement said.

Antisemitic episodes in Australia’s two biggest cities, Sydney and Melbourne – home to 85% of the country’s Jewish population – have drawn the highest profile because they’re severe, unusual and public.

In August, Albanese accused Iran of organizing two antisemitic attacks in Australia and said his country was cutting off diplomatic relations with Tehran in response. It was not immediately clear if Sunday’s attack on the Hanukkah event had any connection to Iran.

The Australian Security Intelligence Organization concluded that Iran had directed arson attacks on the Lewis Continental Kitchen, a kosher food company in Sydney, in October 2024, and on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue two months later, Albanese said.

Sunday’s shooting erupted during a ceremony marking the first night of the eight-day holiday of Hanukkah, which began this year on Dec. 14. In Hebrew, Hanukkah means “dedication,” and the holiday marks the rededication of the Temple in Jerusalem in the second century B.C. Traditionally, Jews light a ritual candelabra, or menorah, each night, in honor of the tiny supply of ritually pure oil that they found in the temple that lasted for eight nights instead of just one.

Chabad has often held a public candle lighting on Bondi Beach for Hanukkah that drew hundreds of people in past years. During Hanukkah, Chabad leaders traditionally place menorahs on car rooftops and host giant menorahs in public settings.

Chabad is a sect of Judaism, originally based in Brooklyn, New York, which focuses on expanding Jewish observance through dispatching emissaries throughout the world, often in places with little or no Jewish presence. Chabad spokesperson Motti Seligson said there are Chabad synagogues and outreach programs in more than 100 countries and Chabad has been in Australia for decades.

Husband-and-wife emissaries, known as shluchim, work around the world, especially in areas with a sparse Jewish presence. They are easily recognizable by the traditional dress, including black suits and hats for men and modest dress with head coverings or wigs for women.

There have been several attacks against Chabad rabbis and synagogues around the world. In 2008, nine people were killed in an attack against a Chabad house in Mumbai, India, and one person was killed and three injured in a 2019 shooting at a Chabad synagogue outside of San Diego.

The movement’s global headquarters are in Crown Heights, Brooklyn, the former office and synagogue of Rabbi Menachem Mendel Schneerson, known simply as “the Rebbe,” who led the movement from 1951 until his death in 1994. Schneerson is still a revered religious figure in the movement, and his grave in Queens receives about 400,000 visitors per year, according to Chabad. President Donald Trump visited Schneerson’s grave during his second campaign in 2024.