The Jewish community in Australia is reeling. Bondi Beach is not a synagogue, a school, or a community center. It is open, public, and integral to Australia's national identity. That is precisely why it was chosen.
After the Bondi Beach mass shooting, Australians are mourning the victims, supporting the wounded, and searching for answers. This moment calls for empathy - for the families whose lives were shattered, for a Jewish community forced once again into fear, and for a nation confronting the reality that antisemitic graffiti leads to violence, hurting everyone, not only Jews.
But empathy alone is not enough.
What happened at Bondi Beach should not be understood merely as a hate crime or an act of individual madness. It fits a broader, deeply troubling global pattern: antisemitic attacks are carried out using the methods, logic, and objectives of terrorism.
Australian authorities have said they are investigating the incident as a terror attack, and others should adopt this mindset. From Bondi Beach to the Tree of Life synagogue in Pittsburgh to the Yom Kippur attack in Manchester, Jews are being targeted in spaces that symbolize safety and belonging. The objective is not only to kill, but to terrorize a community; to make Jews feel unsafe anywhere, even in the most public of places.
Terrorism by definition
Yet governments approach antisemitism as a social ill rather than a national security threat. We see special envoys handling it, not counterterrorism specialists. This conceptual gap leaves intelligence agencies constrained, law enforcement reactive, and legal systems ill-equipped to intervene before violence occurs.
Antisemitic attackers do not emerge in a vacuum. They radicalize over time. They consume online propaganda, conspiracy theories, and dehumanizing narratives. They glorify previous attackers and target symbolic sites to maximize fear and attention. These are precisely the same indicators used worldwide to identify terrorist radicalization - except when the target is Jewish.
This must change.
If antisemitic violence is recognized as a form of terrorism, governments gain access to a more effective set of tools. Intelligence services can monitor radicalization networks earlier. Financial authorities can track funding streams that support extremist ecosystems. Law enforcement can intervene based on patterns of preparatory behavior, rather than waiting for an attack to occur.
Legal reform is central to this shift.
Many democratic systems draw a sharp line between hate speech and terrorism. That distinction made sense in a different era. Today, antisemitic incitement often functions as a gateway to violence, not merely an expression of prejudice. Laws must evolve to reflect this reality, enabling authorities to act when ideology, intent, and capability converge.
This does not mean abandoning civil liberties or free expression. It means recognizing incitement paired with operational intent is not protected speech - it is a security threat. Democracies already apply this logic to jihadist and far Right extremism. Antisemitic terror deserves the same treatment.
Intelligence cooperation is equally critical. Antisemitic networks operate across borders, platforms, and ideologies. Islamist extremists, white supremacists, and far Left radicals increasingly share antisemitic narratives and are all happy to kill Jews, even when they disagree on everything else. Information-sharing between allies must reflect this convergence, rather than treating antisemitism as a siloed issue.
Australia has long been a model of social cohesion and democratic resilience. The shock felt today is real and justified. But the Bondi Beach shooting should also serve as a turning point – not only for Australia, but for democracies everywhere.
The Jewish community should not be left to defend its institutions alone. Private security cannot be the primary line of defense against ideological violence. Protecting citizens from terrorism is a core responsibility of the state.
Antisemitism has changed. It is no longer confined to the margins, and it no longer limits itself to words. It has adopted the tools of terror. Our response must be equally serious.
Harley Lippman is a businessman and politically active philanthropist who was appointed by President George W. Bush to the US Commission for the Preservation of America’s Heritage Abroad and has been reappointed by every president since.