Massacre in Sydney: On the Bondi Beach shootings, hate crimes.
Australia should enhance monitoring of religious extremism.
Bondi Beach in Sydney, one of Australia’s most iconic locations, turned into a scene of massacre on December 14, the first day of Hanukkah, when two gunmen opened fire at a Jewish gathering. At least 16 people, including a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, were killed and 40 others wounded. Police said the attackers were a 50-year-old man, who held licensed firearms, and his 24-year-old son, who had been under investigation by Australia’s domestic intelligence agency for six months. The father was shot dead by police, while the son has been taken to hospital under custody. The attack was the deadliest shooting since the 1996 Port Arthur massacre in Tasmania, in which 35 people were killed. In recent years, Australia has witnessed growing antisemitic incidents, targeting its Jewish community, which makes up some 0.4% of its population. Last year, in October, a kosher-food business in Bondi was targeted, while in December, a synagogue in Melbourne was firebombed. In August this year, Australia accused Iran of directing such attacks, and expelled the Iranian Ambassador and three other diplomats. After Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attack on Israel and Israel’s retaliatory genocidal war on Palestinians in Gaza, antisemitic incidents in Australia rose by 316%, between October 2023 and September 2024, with more than 2,000 cases reported, according to the country’s special envoy to combat antisemitism.
Australia’s Labour Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, has urged unity and asked citizens to be “each other’s light”. The rise in antisemitic violence should be a grave concern for Australia, which hosts the world’s eighth largest Jewish community. His government must swiftly investigate the attack and bring all to justice. He should also remain alert to forces, domestic and foreign, that seek to divide Australian society. While antisemitic extremists target the local Jewish community, critics of Mr. Albanese, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu — under whose watch Hamas killed 1,200 people in Israel — have sought to blame Mr. Albanese’s policies, including his government’s recognition of Palestinian statehood earlier this year, for the Bondi shooting. Mr. Albanese should ignore such attacks and focus instead on healing society, combating hate crimes, and addressing concerns over gun violence. Australia introduced tough gun control laws after the Port Arthur massacre and enforcing a strict licensing regime, leading to a significant decline in gun-related violence and deaths. However, the Bondi shooting has again raised concerns about gun safety. Australia should now tighten regulations further, enhance monitoring of extremist ideologies and isolate and punish those who perpetrate hate crimes.