The Bondi Beach Hanukkah massacre that claimed the lives of at least 15 people and wounded another 40 was the expected progression of two years of rising antisemitic actions and rhetoric, said the News South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies president, David Ossip and Executive Council of Australian Jewry Alex Ryvchin, urging the federal government had to take greater care to prevent future incidents.
NSW Board of Deputies president David Ossip said at a press conference at Bondi Beach on Monday that the terrorist attack conducted by two gunmen against the Jewish community was "long dreaded."
"Over the past two years, we've seen unprecedented acts of antisemitism in our city, synagogues being set alight, cars being firebombed, and houses being defaced. We, as a community, have repeatedly warned that it was only a matter of time until blood was spilt during the summer of terror earlier this year. We very narrowly avoided this despite synagogues being set alight with Jews still inside. But last night, tragically, our luck ran out when our community was subjected to a heinous terrorist attack as we celebrated the first night of Hanukkah," said Ossip. "Two years ago, on the full court of the Opera House, antisemites chanted 'f**k the Jews' and 'where are the Jews?' Sadly, last night, they found the Jews."
Ossip referenced the slogan "globalize the intifada," a slogan used in anti-Israel protests, which urged a violent uprising like those against Israel, and was a call to kill Jews.
"Last night the intifada was globalized and came to Bondi," said Ossip.
The escalation in antisemitism in Australia since the October 7 Massacre was minimized, according to Ossip and Ryvchin, and the Sunday attack was a logical progression of previous events. Ossip said that Jews had been ostracized on campuses and artists ostracized from their fields.
Mistakes were made in addressing Australian antisemitism, Jewish leaders say
Ossip praised the leadership of NSW Premier Chris Minns, but said that the federal government had made mistakes in addressing antisemitism, acting slowly to respond. The Australian Jewish leaders called for increased action by civil and political leaders to address the emergency. The government's chief purpose was to protect lives, and therefore the massacre represents a failure for political leaders.
"We haven't seen the leadership at a federal level that we have at state level, and now more than ever it is the moment if we're not going to step up now and deal with this for the crisis that it is, when are we?" said Ossip.
Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler also said on X on Sunday that antisemitic incitement had been allowed to grow unchecked for years.
"When hatred is normalised, violence follows," said Leibler. "Australia must respond with moral clarity, decisive leadership, and action."
Like many countries, since the October 7 Massacre, Australia has seen an escalation in antisemitic incidents. Ossip and Ryvchin referenced a series of vandalism and arson incidents against Jewish sites from mid 2024 untl early 2025. Many of the perpetrators were arrested in March, and were alleged to have organized the attacks as part of a criminal plot to distract police and manipulate them into making deals for reduced prison time. Later, ASIO announced that at least two of the arson incidents were orchestrated by Iran. As state and federal governments have introduced new legislation to combat antisemitism and harassment, critics have argued that the statistics on antisemitic incidents contain faulty data and he phenomenon has been exaggerated.