Australian Jews Reflect on Predictable Violence Amid Rising Antisemitism

Mon Dec 15 2025 19:21:06 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

A tragic shooting at Bondi Beach during a Hanukkah event has left 15 dead, sparking deep concerns among Australia's Jewish community about escalating antisemitism.

The recent shooting in Bondi Beach, which resulted in the deaths of 15 people celebrating Hanukkah, has left Australia's Jewish community in shock, with many expressing that the attack felt like an inevitable result of rising antisemitism. Witnesses reported a haunting atmosphere at the scene, where victims included a 10-year-old girl and a prominent rabbi. As the nation confronts the profound implications of this atrocity, leaders face pressing questions about the effectiveness of current measures against hate crimes and antisemitism.

Bondi Beach is almost unrecognizable. The sun is out but the surf is empty. The usually heaving main street is hushed.

Helicopters track overhead. Forensic investigators - bright blue figures in the distance - comb over the crime scene from Sunday afternoon when two gunmen opened fire at an event marking the Jewish festival of Hanukkah, killing at least 15 people and injuring more than 40 others.

Beach chairs, crumpled towels, wads of clothing, a pair of children's sandals lie in a neat pile at the edge of the sand - all the things people left behind as they fled what police are calling Australia's deadliest terror attack.

Nearby, a wall of floral tributes has begun to grow over the footpath. Milling around are shocked locals. Hands cover trembling lips. Sunglasses do their best to hide puffy eyes.

I've grown up in fear my whole life, 22-year-old Jess tells the BBC. As a Jew, this felt inevitable, she adds.

That is the overriding sentiment here today – this is shocking for such a safe country and yet predictable for one that has been grappling with rising antisemitism.

Our innocence is over, you know? says Yvonne Harber who was at Bondi on Monday to mourn the previous day's horror.

I think we will be forever changed, a bit like Port Arthur, she adds, referring to the massacre in 1996 – Australia's worst – which prompted sweeping, pioneering gun reform.

More than 24 hours on, the Jewish community is still locating the missing and counting the dead.

Among them is a prominent local Rabbi, Eli Schlanger, who only a month ago had welcomed his fifth child.

The youngest victim is a 10-year-old named Matilda, whose only crime was being Jewish, says Alex Ryvchin, the co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the main body for the Jewish community here.

His organization has been warning about a spike in recorded antisemitism incidents since Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza. But, Mr. Ryvchin says, authorities didn't heed the alarm.

The Prime Minister has vowed to strengthen measures against hate crimes, but as he visits the grieving community, the rhetorical questions on everyone’s lips are resonating loud and clear: why wasn't this prevented? The vulnerability of the Jewish community in Australia has never been more visible.

As condolences flow in and vigils are held across the country, solidarity among Australians rallies behind those who feel the weight of loss from this senseless act.