Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism

AntisemitismAdd to myFTGet instant alerts for this topicManage your delivery channels hereRemove from myFTBondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitismDeadly terror attack on Jewish beach festival comes after sharp rise in incidents of hatred Mourners at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Monday, following the attack that killed 15 people © Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty ImagesBondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on x (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on facebook (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on linkedin (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on x (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on facebook (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on linkedin (opens in a new window)Bondi becomes focus of fury over Australia’s tide of antisemitism on whatsapp (opens in a new window) Save Nic Fildes in Sydney PublishedDecember 15 2025Jump to comments sectionPrint this pageUnlock the Editor’s Digest for freeRoula Khalaf, Editor of the FT, selects her favourite stories in this weekly newsletter.Kopel Harkowitz’s mother wanted him to be a rabbi when the family immigrated from Europe to Australia in the 1920s — but instead he became a lifeguard on Bondi Beach.His grandson Tim Harcourt, an economist and academic, told the Financial Times on Monday that his grandfather had revelled in his role as a “true blue Aussie lifesaver” on the most famous strip of sand in what he considered to be “the safest and most democratic country in the world”.But Bondi Beach, long the scene of peaceful mixing of Australia’s diverse communities, has this week become a place of heartache for the nation’s Jews — and the focus of bitter criticism of its government’s handling of rising antisemitism.Two gunmen opened fire on a public celebration of Hanukkah, the Jewish festival of light, where families were sharing traditional snacks and children were enjoying face painting and a petting zoo. The assault killed 15 people, including a Holocaust survivor, making it Australia’s deadliest incident of violence in almost three decades.Show video infoShow video descriptionVideo descriptionTwo gunmen fire towards a Jewish festival held on Bondi beach in Sydney on SundayTwo gunmen fire towards a Jewish festival held on Bondi beach in Sydney on Sunday © ReutersThe shooting “was an attack on all of us. Bondi is Australia, Australia is Bondi Beach,” said Harcourt, whose grandfather died peacefully at the age of 96. Some of his family still live in the Bondi house he grew up in.Australia’s intelligence chiefs had warned of the increasing risk of antisemitic violence in recent years, as Israel’s war in Gaza has fuelled deep tensions between communities in the country.Jewish leaders had feared that a spate of recent incidents — notably the firebombing of a Melbourne synagogue in 2024 and arson attacks on Jewish businesses in Sydney — could turn lethal.“For the last two years I have been convincing myself that whilst antisemitism has been rising it would stop at verbal abuse and arson — that Australians are too good to resort to extreme violence,” Jake Klein, executive chair of gold miner Evolution Mining, posted on LinkedIn after visiting Bondi in the wake of the attack.“But last night that illusion was shattered,” he wrote.A report from the Community Security Group, which protects synagogues and Jewish events in Australia, said antisemitic attacks rose 26 per cent in 2024 to 1,045 incidents, the highest recorded in a single year. They ranged from abusive behaviour to property damage, assaults and six acts of extreme violence.In August, Australia expelled Iran’s ambassador after accusing the country’s elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps of being behind some of the attacks.The attack on Bondi beach was “not an isolated and spontaneous event”, Josh Frydenberg, a former Treasurer and now chair of Goldman Sachs Australia, told Sky News, but “a culmination of hate”.Mourners gather to light a Hanukkah menorah at Bondi Beach on Monday © Saeed Khan/AFP/Getty ImagesFrydenberg listed a litany of incidents targeting the Jewish community since the October 7, 2023 attack on Israel by Palestinian militant group Hamas, which prompted Israel’s assault on Gaza.These included damage to the offices of Jewish politicians, the “doxxing” or malicious publication of personal information about Jewish artists and business people, and weekly protests with chants including “globalise the intifada”, which many Jews interpret as a threat of violence rather than a call for Palestinian liberation.Antisemitic incidents have also been on the rise in countries such as the UK, where two people were killed in an attack on a synagogue in October on Yom Kippur, the Jewish day of atonement.Israeli politicians say Australia has done too little to clamp down on antisemitism. Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s prime minister, lashed out at Anthony Albanese, accusing his Australian counterpart of ignoring warnings of an attack and blaming Canberra’s decision to recognise Palestine as a state in September for pouring “fuel on the antisemitic fire”. “Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country, Netanyahu said. “You took no action. You let the disease spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today.”Show video infoShow video descriptionVideo descriptionTranscriptBenjamin Netanyahu lashes out at Anthony Albanese over the rise of antisemitism in AustraliaYour government did nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread. And the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today.Benjamin Netanyahu lashes out at Anthony Albanese over the rise of antisemitism in Australia © ReutersAlbanese on Monday denied there was a link between recognition for Palestine and defended his record on antisemitism. He also pointed to efforts by his government to enhance security at synagogues and events, a move to outlaw doxxing, and funding for museums linked to the Holocaust and Jewish life. Last year Albanese also appointed Jillian Segal, a lawyer who has been on the boards of the stock exchange and National Australia Bank, to make recommendations on combating antisemitism.Her report, published in July, contained proposals ranging from new laws regarding antisemitic conduct and more regulation of content online to the withdrawal of public funding for events promoting hateful content.“This did not come without warning,” Segal said on Sunday, referring to previous incidents in Sydney where protesters had chanted “where are the Jews” and marched carrying images of Iran’s leader and a flag of the jihadist group Isis. “These are Australian icons. Targeting them is deliberate . . . It is an attack on Australia,” she added.Albanese has been criticised by community groups and political opponents for not acting more decisively to respond to the potential threat of violence and for not adopting many of the Segal reports’ recommendations.“There is no place in Australia for antisemitism. There is no place for hatred,” the prime minister said on Monday when asked about concrete steps to make the Jewish community feel safe again.One Jewish executive who lives in Bondi said her neighbours had tearfully hugged her on Monday in disbelief that something like this could happen in Australia. “I am not in disbelief. We are in grief, but we’re angry,” said the executive, who declined to be identified, arguing that intimidatory behaviour at weekly protests against Israel’s war in Gaza had not resulted in action by the police. “It takes the spilling of blood for people to get the message,” she said.Vigils will be held across the country over the course of Hanukkah, which lasts eight days, as the bodies of victims are returned to families to be buried at the earliest possible date, in accordance with Jewish custom. Yanky Berger, a rabbi in Sydney with the Chabad group that organised the Bondi Hanukkah celebration, put the massacre in the context of Jewish history in a missive to his congregation shared with the FT.“This is what our ancestors lived through. What Jews have endured across generations,” wrote Berger, whose colleague Rabbi Eli Schlanger was killed in the attack. “And heartbreakingly, this is what we are still living through today, not in distant history, not somewhere else, but here, now in Sydney. It is real. It is close.”Additional reporting by James Shotter in JerusalemReuse this content (opens in new window) CommentsJump to comments sectionPromoted Content Follow the topics in this article Antisemitism Add to myFT Terrorism Add to myFT Gun control Add to myFT Australian politics Add to myFT Australia Add to myFT CommentsComments have not been enabled for this article.