After Sydney attack, Netanyahu says he warned Canberra was ‘pouring fuel on antisemitic fire’

Senior Israeli officials on Sunday accused Australia’s leadership of ignoring antisemitism ahead of the deadly mass shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, with some going so far as to claim that the blood of the victims was on the government’s hands because of its recent recognition of a Palestinian state.

At least 15 people were killed in the attack, during which two gunmen opened fire at a communal event marking the first night of the Hanukkah holiday. One victim was named as Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a Chabad emissary based in Sydney.

Among the wounded were Arsen Ostrovsky, a human rights lawyer and head of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council branch in Sydney, and Evan Zlatkis, director of media at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry. At least 13 are believed to have been critically injured in the attack, including two policemen.

Speaking hours after the attack at a Hanukkah celebration, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu noted that he had sent a letter in August to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, charging Canberra with pouring fuel “on this antisemitic fire.”

Paraphrasing his letter, Netanyahu said Albanese’s policies, which included recognizing a Palestinian state in September, encouraged “the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets. Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. You must replace weakness with action.”

In an oblique attack on the Australian government, Netanyahu added: “We will continue to denounce those who do not denounce, but instead encourage. We will continue to demand that they do what is needed of leaders of free nations. We will not give up, we will not bow our heads, we will continue to fight as our ancestors did.”

President Isaac Herzog condemned the “cruel” shooting, calling on Canberra to fight against “the enormous wave of antisemitism” that he said “is plaguing Australian society.”

“Our sisters and brothers in Sydney, Australia, have been attacked by vile terrorists in a very cruel attack on Jews who had gone to light the first candle of Hanukkah,” he said at an event at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem.

“We repeat our alerts time and again to the Australian government,” he added.

Australian government ‘must come to its senses’

In an English-language tweet, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar declared that Australia had been warned about potential attacks and that the shooting was the result of “the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years, with the antisemitic and inciting calls of ‘Globalize the Intifada’ that were realized today.”

“The Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses,” he wrote.

There was no concrete intelligence about an impending attack, but there were warnings as part of the national threat assessment about the likelihood of terrorist attacks, Israeli Ambassador to Australia Amir Maimon told Channel 12 news.

Since the Hamas onslaught in Israel on October 7, 2023, “we have witnessed a series of actions against the Jewish community and its institutions, a series that only intensified,” Maimon stated, adding that he had said publicly on numerous occasions that “if I were to wake up one morning and learn that a Jew was physically harmed, I wouldn’t be surprised.”

A report published recently by the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) said the country saw 1,654 incidents during the 12-month period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025 — about five times the annual average recorded in the decade prior to the October 7 onslaught that launched the war in Gaza.

The year immediately following the Hamas attack had seen 2,062 incidents recorded, ECAJ noted.

In a statement, Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Ministry said that the Australian government bore responsibility for the shooting, claiming that Canberra “is doing everything in its power to ensure that Australian Jews cannot live safely, peacefully, and securely as Jews in their own country.”

Condemning the “brutal act of terror targeting Jews who had gathered to mark the lighting of a Hanukkah candle,” the ministry said that “the blood of the victims is on the hands of the Australian government.

“Since October 7, instead of standing firmly and unequivocally alongside the State of Israel, the only democracy in the Middle East and the frontline of the free world against jihadist terrorism, the Australian government has chosen a policy of weakness, restraint, and appeasement,” stated the ministry, which is led by hardline Likud minister Amichai Chikli.

The statement further accused Canberra of “appeasing the enemies of Western civilization,” adding that all available data indicated that “Australia has become one of the Western countries experiencing the sharpest and most alarming rise in antisemitic incidents since October 7,” and that “repeated warnings, appeals, and attempts to engage with the authorities have been met time and again with a wall of indifference.”

Immigration Minister Ofir Sofer, a member of the far-right Religious Zionism party, wrote that while visiting Australia, he had witnessed “grave and troubling antisemitism, without an adequate response from the Australian government,” while fellow Religious Zionism MK Ohad Tal tweeted that “when you support terror in the Middle East, you get terror in your backyard. The massacre of Jews in Sydney is not fate; it’s the result of antisemitism that is allowed to grow unchecked.”

Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, who leads the Religious Zionism party, wrote that the images coming out of Sydney were reminiscent of the October 7 onslaught, and expressed an “uncompromising demand that the Australian government deal firmly with the rising antisemitism in the country and protect its Jews.”

National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir asserted that the attack was the result of the Australian government’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state.

“Antisemitic terrorism knows no borders, but the blood of the murdered is on the hands of the Australian government, which announced recognition of a ‘Palestinian’ state and legitimized terrorism against Jews,” the ultranationalist minister argued in a statement expressing support for the local Jewish community.

Australia was one of several countries to announce recognition of a Palestinian state in September.

The attack was also condemned by representatives of the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, with both noting that a Chabad rabbi was among those killed.

Shas chairman Aryeh Deri said that the shooting was reminiscent of October 7 and that other countries that have seen outbursts of anti-Jewish sentiment should take notice, while UTJ chairman Yitzhak Goldknopf said that “hatred of Jews knows no borders and erupts wherever incitement and terror are met with a blind eye.”

‘The writing was on the wall’

Members of the opposition and of the so-called anti-Netanyahu “change bloc” also castigated the Australian government, with former prime minister Naftali Bennett charging that “failed and weak leadership on antisemitism led to Bondi.”

Failed and weak leadership on antisemitism led to Bondi.

Am Yisrael Chai. pic.twitter.com/GXyyj1f2hH

— Naftali Bennett נפתלי בנט (@naftalibennett) December 14, 2025

“The writing was on the wall and the government turned a blind eye to it,” Bennett continued, in a separate statement. “I demand that the Australian government take immediate action to protect Jewish communities and deal with antisemitism with the utmost seriousness.”

Benny Gantz, the chairman of the opposition Blue and White party, posted: “What starts with genocidal cries for the destruction of Israel, unsurprisingly ends with arson attacks on synagogues and murderous terror shootings against Jews at a Hanukkah event.”

Echoing Bennett and others, he wrote in English that “the writing was on the wall – and despite repeated warnings, the Australian authorities missed it once again.” He called on Canberra to “take unprecedented measures to secure and protect their Jewish communities.”

MK Gilad Kariv (The Democrats), chairman of the Knesset Diaspora Affairs Committee, likewise charged that “the Australian government must act decisively to ensure the safety of Australian Jews and to combat the scourge of antisemitism,” and said that his parliamentary panel would discuss the matter.