Rabbi Yosef Eichenblatt spoke on Monday with Kan News, recounting how his 13‑year‑old daughter, Elia, survived the Bondi Beach massacre.

Rabbi Eichenblat described the terrifying moments she experienced: “At first she thought it was fireworks, then a security guard shouted, ‘Lie on the floor.’ Afterwards she saw a woman bleeding heavily from her leg. At some point she lifted her head and saw a man with a weapon on the bridge. Bullets passed over her, and then she noticed someone wrest the weapon away from the terrorist.”

He slammed the Australian government, saying, “We’ve been asking the government to do something about antisemitism for two years. The situation keeps getting worse, and they do nothing.”

He also criticized the Australian police: “The police did nothing; they hid from the terrorists instead of shooting. My friend, an Israeli who was at the massacre, told them, ‘Shoot them. If you don’t do it, I will.’”

Sara Vanunu, a JNF KKL Israel emissary in Australia, also spoke to Kan. “We were celebrating my son’s bar mitzvah, and his entire class was there. Suddenly gunfire began and lasted about five minutes. People ran and hid in an inner hall. Everyone was in a panic.”

Sara also spoke about the feelings of Jews in Australia following the shocking massacre and the rise in antisemitism: “People are afraid; they removed the mezuzot from their homes. Some parents were afraid to send their children to school. There is real fear, but I am proud to be Israeli and Jewish, and I don’t want to hide it. It is important to be strong.”

(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)