Jewish families warn unchecked Islamist antisemitism endangers Australia, while Israel’s security lessons are ignored globally.
Families of those murdered in the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror massacre have formally demanded decisive federal action, urging Anthony Albanese to establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission into what they describe as a “rapid rise of antisemitism” across Australia. Their warning is stark: without accountability, more Jewish lives will be lost.
On December 14, fifteen people were murdered and dozens wounded when father and son Sajid and Naveed Akram carried out a terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach. Authorities classified the shooting as an antisemitic terrorist attack—one of the deadliest assaults on Jews in Australian history.
In a letter quoted by AFP, the bereaved families demanded an immediate federal inquiry to examine intelligence, law-enforcement, and policy failures that allowed antisemitic hatred and Islamist extremism to grow unchecked. “You owe us answers. You owe us accountability. And you owe Australians the truth,” the families wrote.
While Albanese has resisted a national commission—arguing that a New South Wales–led inquiry is sufficient—the families dismissed this as dangerously inadequate. Proposed reforms on gun ownership, hate-speech laws, and policing reviews, they argue, fall far short of confronting a national crisis.
The Bondi massacre did not occur in isolation. Australia has seen a surge of antisemitic attacks: the firebombing of Adass Israel Synagogue, arson and anti-Israel vandalism in Woollahra, graffiti declaring “F- the Jews” on vehicles, and red swastikas sprayed across synagogues in Allawah and Newtown. These are not random acts—they reflect a broader ideological rot tolerated under the guise of “activism.”
As Israel confronts terror directly and unapologetically to protect Jewish life, Western governments continue to hesitate, debate, and deflect. The Bondi families’ demand is clear: recognition that antisemitism—often fueled by radical Islamist and anti-Israel narratives—is a national security threat, not a social inconvenience.
Leadership now can save lives. Delay will only embolden those who hate Jews—and the societies that excuse them.
