Two gunmen attacked a Chanukah celebration on Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, killing at least 16 people in what Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called an act of antisemitic terrorism that struck at the heart of the nation.
The massacre at one of Australia’s most popular beaches followed a wave of antisemitic attacks that have roiled the country over the past year. It is the deadliest shooting in almost three decades in a country with strict gun control laws.
One gunman was fatally shot by police and the second was arrested and in critical condition, authorities said. Police said one gunman was known to security services, but there was no specific threat.
At least 40 people were confirmed wounded, including two police officers, said Mal Lanyon, police commissioner for New South Wales state, where Sydney is located.
“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said.
The violence erupted at the end of a summer day when thousands had flocked to Bondi Beach, including hundreds gathered for the Chanukah by the Sea event celebrating the start of Chanukah.
Chabad identified one of its shluchim, Rabbi Eli Schlanger hy”d, as one of the murdered victims. Rabbi Schlanger was the assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and an organizer of the event.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry confirmed the death of an Israeli citizen, but gave no further details.
Police said emergency services were called to Campbell Parade in Bondi about 6:45 p.m. responding to reports of shots being fired. Video filmed by onlookers showed people in bathing suits running from the water as shots rang out. Separate footage showed two men in black shirts firing with long guns from a footbridge leading to the beach, as sirens wailed and people cried out in the background.
One dramatic clip broadcast on Australian television showed a man appearing to tackle and disarm one of the gunmen, before pointing the man’s weapon at him, then setting the gun on the ground.
Minns called the man, named by relatives to Australian media as fruit shop owner Ahmed al Ahmed, a “genuine hero.”
Arsen Ostrovsky, a lawyer and activist attending the Chanukah ceremony with his wife and daughters, was grazed in the head by a bullet. Ostrovsky said he moved from Israel to Australia two weeks ago to work for a Jewish advocacy group.
“What I saw today was pure evil, just an absolute bloodbath. Bodies strewn everywhere,” he told The Associated Press in an email from the hospital. “It was like reliving Oct. 7 all over.”
“I never thought would be possible here in Australia.”
Lachlan Moran, 32, from Melbourne, told the AP he was waiting for his family when he heard shots. He dropped the beer he was carrying and ran.
“I sprinted as quickly as I could,” Moran said. He said he heard shooting off and on for about five minutes. “Everyone just dropped all their possessions and everything and were running and people were crying and it was just horrible.”
Albanese told reporters in the capital, Canberra, that he was “devastated” by the massacre.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation,” Albanese said.
He vowed the violence would be met with “a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith.”
King Charles III said he and Queen Camilla were “appalled and saddened by the most dreadful antisemitic terrorist attack.” United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres said on X he was horrified, and his “heart is with the Jewish community worldwide.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a post on X: “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration. Antisemitism has no place in this world.”
Police in cities around the world, including London, said they would step up security at Jewish sites.
Australia, a country of 28 million people, is home to about 117,000 Jews, according to official figures. Antisemitic incidents, including assaults, vandalism, threats and intimidation, surged more than threefold in the country during the year after Hamas attacked Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and Israel launched a war on Hamas in Gaza in response, the government’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal reported in July.
Last year, the country was rocked by antisemitic attacks in Sydney and Melbourne. Shuls and cars were torched, businesses and homes graffitied and Jews attacked in those cities, where 85% of the nation’s Jewish population lives.
Albanese in August blamed Iran for two of the attacks and cut diplomatic ties to Tehran.
Israel urged Australia’s government to address crimes targeting Jews. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he warned Australia’s leaders months ago about the dangers of failing to take action against antisemitism. He said Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state “pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.”
“Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia … and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.
Mass shootings in Australia are extremely rare. A 1996 massacre in the Tasmanian town of Port Arthur, where a lone gunman killed 35 people, prompted the government to drastically tighten gun laws, making it much more difficult to acquire firearms.
Significant mass shootings this century included two murder-suicides with death tolls of five people in 2014 and seven in 2018, in which gunmen killed their own families and themselves.
In 2022, six people were killed in a shootout between police and Christian extremists at a rural property in Queensland state.
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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16 Responses
Notice it appears that not a single Australian news outlet is calling this a terrorist attack or even attack on Jewish event Rather “shooting at Bondi beach”
the public is asked to pray for the recovery of
*Yaakov Halevi ben Miriam* and
*Feivel Eliezer Halevi ben Dabra Beila*
who are in serious condition.
A partial list of the injured in the Bondi terror attack לרפו”ש בתושח”י:
יעקב בן עטל
חיה מושקא בת שטערנא שרה
יוסף בן שטרנא שרה
ראובן בן מניה
יעקב דב בן פנינה
יעקב בן מרים
פייוול אליעזר בן דאברא ביילא
If anyone has more names for תפילה among the wounded, please share.
If I’m not mistaken, one does not use yichus or rabbinic titles when davening, such as הכהן, הלוי, הרב, etc.
הגיע זמן לעלות לארץ הקודש.
BBC calls it Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting
A Jew says,
Really
http://www.abc.net.au/news/2025-12-14/bondi-beach-shooting-terrorist-attack-12-dead/106141580
12 killed includes one of the terrorists. Thar murderer should NOT be included in the victim count.
We are in golus. Our gedolim have taught us to keep a low profile. Those that ignore that דעת תורה endanger themselves and others.
I feel terrible for them. BDE. It’s a tragedy. Horrific.
Yet, ” we knew this would happen. It was going to happen. Everyone knew it was going to happen.” So, why did you go? Why didn’t you hire private security? Why weren’t you flying drones around looking for shooters? Why did you have a gathering of hundreds of people when you knew it was going to happen?
very little police presence? there were two shooters, and one of them was taken down by a bystander. what were the police doing? where there are hundreds of innocent people and an active shooter, “waiting for backup” is the wrong answer.
Nice to see that most of the main Australia news outlets are calling this a terror attack and not just a shooting.
They are as follows:
news.com.au
ABC7 (Australia)
SBS News
The Sydney Morning Herald
The Australian
The Age
Sky News Australia
The Conversation
The Guardian Australia
Just a little bit of hashkafas hatorah on this for those who care:
THE AUSTRALIAN GOVT WILL NEVER PROTECT US, AND NEITHER WILL ANY OTHER GOVT INCLUDING THE ISRAELI/AMERICAN GOVTS. ONLY HASHEM WILL PROTECT US WHEN WE ALL DO TESHUVA. THERE IS NO OTHER ANSWER, EVEN HISHTADLUS WONT HELP WITHOUT THIS.
Hoshea 14:2-4 שׁ֚וּבָה יִשְׂרָאֵ֔ל עַ֖ד יְהֹוָ֣ה אֱלֹהֶ֑יךָ כִּ֥י כָשַׁ֖לְתָּ בַּעֲוֺנֶֽךָ׃
קְח֤וּ עִמָּכֶם֙ דְּבָרִ֔ים וְשׁ֖וּבוּ אֶל־יְהֹוָ֑ה אִמְר֣וּ אֵלָ֗יו כׇּל־תִּשָּׂ֤א עָוֺן֙ וְקַח־ט֔וֹב וּֽנְשַׁלְּמָ֥ה פָרִ֖ים שְׂפָתֵֽינוּ׃
אַשּׁ֣וּר ׀ לֹ֣א יוֹשִׁיעֵ֗נוּ עַל־סוּס֙ לֹ֣א נִרְכָּ֔ב וְלֹא־נֹ֥אמַר ע֛וֹד אֱלֹהֵ֖ינוּ לְמַעֲשֵׂ֣ה יָדֵ֑ינוּ אֲשֶׁר־בְּךָ֖ יְרֻחַ֥ם יָתֽוֹם׃
as the navi says clearly we cannot rely on alliances with Ashur or Mitrayim, only Hashem.
Also of course ayin shom Rambam hil taynis 1:1-3 – מִצְוַת עֲשֵׂה מִן הַתּוֹרָה לִזְעֹק וּלְהָרִיעַ בַּחֲצוֹצְרוֹת עַל כָּל צָרָה שֶׁתָּבוֹא עַל הַצִּבּוּר. שֶׁנֶּאֱמַר (במדבר י ט) “עַל הַצַּר הַצֹּרֵר אֶתְכֶם וַהֲרֵעֹתֶם בַּחֲצֹצְרוֹת”. כְּלוֹמַר כָּל דָּבָר שֶׁיָּצֵר לָכֶם כְּגוֹן בַּצֹּרֶת וְדֶבֶר וְאַרְבֶּה וְכַיּוֹצֵא בָּהֶן זַעֲקוּ עֲלֵיהֶן וְהָרִיעוּ:
וְדָבָר זֶה מִדַּרְכֵי הַתְּשׁוּבָה הוּא. שֶׁבִּזְמַן שֶׁתָּבוֹא צָרָה וְיִזְעֲקוּ עָלֶיהָ וְיָרִיעוּ יֵדְעוּ הַכּל שֶׁבִּגְלַל מַעֲשֵׂיהֶם הָרָעִים הוּרַע לָהֶן כַּכָּתוּב (ירמיה ה כה) “עֲוֹנוֹתֵיכֶם הִטּוּ” וְגוֹ’. וְזֶה הוּא שֶׁיִּגְרֹם לָהֶם לְהָסִיר הַצָּרָה מֵעֲלֵיהֶם:
אֲבָל אִם לֹא יִזְעֲקוּ וְלֹא יָרִיעוּ אֶלָּא יֹאמְרוּ דָּבָר זֶה מִמִּנְהַג הָעוֹלָם אֵרַע לָנוּ וְצָרָה זוֹ נִקְרָה נִקְרֵית. הֲרֵי זוֹ דֶּרֶךְ אַכְזָרִיּוּת וְגוֹרֶמֶת לָהֶם לְהִדַּבֵּק בְּמַעֲשֵׂיהֶם הָרָעִים. וְתוֹסִיף הַצָּרָה צָרוֹת אֲחֵרוֹת. הוּא שֶׁכָּתוּב בַּתּוֹרָה (ויקרא כו כז) “וַהֲלַכְתֶּם עִמִּי בְּקֶרִי” (ויקרא כו כח) “וְהָלַכְתִּי גַּם אֲנִי עִמָּכֶם בַּחֲמַת קֶרִי”. כְּלוֹמַר כְּשֶׁאָבִיא עֲלֵיכֶם צָרָה כְּדֵי שֶׁתָּשׁוּבוּ אִם תֹּאמְרוּ שֶׁהִיא קֶרִי אוֹסִיף לָכֶם חֲמַת אוֹתוֹ קֶרִי:
All Tzaros that come to our tzibbur are a result of our misdeeds and the only thing to do to protect ourselves is to cry out in davening and do teshuva, and that is what will remove the tzara from upon us. But if a person just says that this tzara is just an worldy occurrence that we couldve prevented and its not becuase of our need for teshuva, that person in doing so is causing more tzaros to come.
Yes anti-semitism is rampant in the world today and it is alarming, but this is the only answer. any othe response would be comparable to Pharaoh hitting that big frog to kill it, yet all he accomplishes is that more and more frogs come pouring out of its mouth.
At least Malky Leifer is safe, since she is stuck in prison over trumped up false charges, after Israel violating מסירה לעכו”ם to curry favor from Australia which never gave favor thereafter, so she couldn’t be at this beach.
Here in New York State, many Jews are armed, as we should be, as I have been since the age of 6, when my dear father explained to me the necessity of protecting ourselves. However, the govt here has decreed zones where we cannot carry our arms, which we possess. Australia and many so called progressive places have similar, stupid laws which allow only the terrorists to kill. Jews, worldwide, need to jump off the gun control bandwagon, and onto the self defense bandwagon. No one except us, will defend us
Knowing how gun controllers think, this will be used as an excuse to impose even further gun control in Australia. Just as knives in Britain are now treated as though they have little arms and legs on them, it is time for Jews to always, always be armed. In our history, in fighting the Greeks, we did so with swords, not words. I am too busy to try to figure out how our people got to the point where we thought we could count on some stranger to protect us. I was raised in a state where Jews counted on some Irish cop smoking a cigarette in his car up the block to somehow protect us. Wake up, Jews. Arm up, practice and start funding and voting for pro self defense pols.
I’m not sure why a comment would have to be “moderated” If censorship is endemic, then what’s the point of even sharing? Are my ideas dangerous? Should I print them on actual paper, as I have done in the past an distribute them by hand? “Moderate?”