JERUSALEM, Israel – Israeli leaders have roundly condemned the mass killing of people in Australia who were attending a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach. Reports of the shooting came as Israelis are preparing to light the first Hanukkah candle at sundown.
At least 12 people were killed, and nearly 30 were wounded in the attack. Two shooters carried out the assault, one of whom was killed and the other arrested. Among the wounded was Arsen Ostrovsky, an Israeli human rights attorney and a contributor to The Jerusalem Post.
Just two weeks ago, Ostrovsky warned about the “alarming surge in Jew-hatred since October 7, including the defilement of Australian landmarks being hijacked as platforms for intimidation,” according to the Post.
Reaction was swift and unified among Israeli leaders. President Isaac Herzog at an event in Jerusalem called the attack “vile.” He said Israelis are praying for the wounded and the families of the dead. Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the shooting “appalled” him and that the attack developed out of an “antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years.”
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Australian police say they found an IED (improvised explosive device) in the car of one of the suspects. New South Wales Chief of Police Mal Lanyon stated, “As a result of the circumstances of the incident… I declared this to be a terrorist incident.”
Four months ago, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu posted on social media, accusing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of abandoning Australia’s Jewish community.
Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Committee said on Sunday that the Australian government “is doing everything in its power to ensure that Australian Jews cannot live safely, peacefully, and securely as Jews in their own country.”
The two shooters opened fire from a bridge onto people in a park. Although police have not confirmed the nature of the weapons used, the guns the shooters possessed were likely shotguns and hunting rifles based on investigations at the scene. Australia is a country with strict gun laws.
Witnesses called the scene “hell on earth.”
