Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to Australian officials warning of antisemitism in the country months before a terror attack target Jews at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach. Netanyahu wrote to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August warning of an “alarming rise of antisemitism” and pointing out a “lack of decisive action by your government to confront it.” In the attack on Sunday, two gunmen killed at least 11 people and injured dozens more at a celebration attended by thousands of people. Families gathered at Bondi Beach in Sydney to welcome the first night of Hanukkah. The attack is the deadliest antisemitic attack against Jews since Hamas’ October 7, 2023, invasion of Israel. Netanyahu noted “a campaign of intimidation, vandalism and violence against Jews across the free world” waged by “pro-Hamas extremists and left-wing radicals.” The Israeli leader said the “campaign has intensified” under Albanese, noting a string of recent antisemitic incidents in what Netanyahu described as an “epidemic” of antisemitism. “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on this antisemitic fire. It is not diplomacy, it is appeasement. It rewards Hamas terror, hardens Hamas’s refusal to free the hostages, emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew-hatred now stalking your streets,” said Netanyahu. Netanyahu praised President Donald Trump, offering Trump’s treatment of pro-Hamas immigrants in the United States as an example. The Trump State Department, led by Marco Rubio, has rescinded visas of immigrants who have voiced support for Hamas following the terror group’s attack against Israel. “Prime Minister, antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve, and to do so by a clear date: the Jewish New Year, September 23, 2025,” wrote Netanyahu. “History will not forgive hesitation. It will honor action.” The Labor PM of Australia was warned pic.twitter.com/BrqZtk7SMJ — Mark R. Levin (@marklevinshow) December 14, 2025 Netanyahu spoke about the letter from Dimona, Israel, on Sunday, rebuking Albanese for a lack of action taken after the Israeli prime minister’s warnings. “Instead, Prime Minister, you replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement. Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread. And the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” said Netanyahu.

Chabad emissary Rabbi Eli Schlanger, killed in Sunday’s terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Australia, had warned months earlier that the government must not betray the Jewish people. Schlanger, who was the organizer of the “Chanukah by The Sea” event, was among the twelve killed. Another 29 were rushed to the hospital after the attack—where at least 1,000 others were in attendance. According to Israel’s Channel 12, Schlanger directly addressed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese—who has frequently criticized Israel—in a letter urging him not to betray the Jewish people. “As a rabbi in Sydney, I beg you not to betray the Jewish people and not God Himself,” Schlanger wrote. “Jews have been torn from their land again and again by leaders who are now remembered with contempt in the pages of history.” Schlanger added that Israel is the land “given by G-d to Abraham, then to his son Isaac, and then to Jacob, to be the eternal homeland of the Jewish people.” The letter came after Australia recognized a Palestinian state and the United Nations General Assembly voted to recognize Palestinian statehood. “You have an opportunity to stand on the side of truth and justice. By rescinding this act of betrayal, you will not only honor the Jewish people and our heritage but also align yourself with the word of God,” he added. “Should you choose this path, you will be welcomed home with open arms and even a warm Shabbat meal. I congratulate you in advance for the courage to do what is right and to stand firmly against this act of heresy.” Schlanger’s last post on X, from last Chanukah, said the “best response to combat antisemitism” is to display more menorahs, including electric ones on top of cars. In a video, he can be seen smiling and dancing. The best response to antisemitism. Happy Chanukah! pic.twitter.com/33RSGYzhUY — Rabbi Eli Schlanger (@SchlangerEli) December 17, 2024 According to Chabad, Schlanger was the assistant rabbi and the son-in-law to the head rabbi, Rabbi Yehoram who founded Chabad of Bondi decades ago. “Since the Oct. 7, terror attacks in Israel in 2023, Australian Jewry has been under attack,” Chabad wrote. “Multiple synagogues have been burnt and vandalized, Jewish homes and cars have been graffitied with antisemitic, and massive protests in major cities, including calls for the genocide of Jews and Israel’s destruction, have made it dangerous for Jewish people.” Earlier this year, Schlanger wrote that security was tightened at their community and that attendance at their events significantly increased in the face of Jew-hatred. “Since Oct. 7, there have been weekly demonstrations in the heart of the city, about a 20-minute drive from the eastern Jewish suburbs,” he told Chabad News. “These demonstrations haven’t reached our area. It is mostly quiet here.” He added that he had “never personally been the target of antisemitism” and encouraged people to “be more Jewish, act more Jewish and appear more Jewish.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused Albanese of betraying Israel and abandoning Australia’s Jewish community after Australia recognized a Palestinian state and barred members of Netanyahu’s coalition from entering the country in August. Netanyahu said history would remember Albanese as a “weak politician.” Antisemitism in Australia has surged following the October 7 massacre in Israel, which left more than 1,000 people dead, including just days after when about 1,000 anti-Israel protesters in Sydney chanted antisemitic slogans, including “gas the Jews.” Earlier this month, at the J7 Task Force Summit in Sydney, the Anti-Defamation League reported that antisemitic incidents across Australia have surged to nearly five times their pre-October 7 levels. The report documented 1,654 incidents over the past year, including arson attacks targeting synagogues, preschools, and other Jewish institutions.

As terrorists opened fire at a Jewish event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, a bystander charged one of the gunmen, tackled him to the ground, and ripped the weapon from his hands. According to Australian media, the man has been identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al-Ahmad, a father of two who owns a fruit shop. In a viral video shared on X, al-Ahmad emerges from behind a car and tackles one of the terrorists from behind, ripping the gun from his hands. He briefly points the weapon at the attacker as he retreats, then places it down against a nearby tree. The man who bravely tackled one of the shooters has been identified as 43-year-old Ahmed al-Ahmad. pic.twitter.com/U5B1rH5HHx — Kassy Akiva (@KassyAkiva) December 14, 2025 The terrorist then walks back to the other shooter, picks up another gun, and continues firing until he is shot. One gunman was killed and another was critically injured after being shot. Police are reportedly investigating whether there was a third gunman. Al-Ahmad’s cousin told Australia’s News 7 that al-Ahmad was shot twice during the attack, once in the arm and once in the shoulder. He is undergoing surgery and is expected to make a full recovery. Twelve people have been confirmed dead and 29 others were rushed to the hospital following the attack on the “Chanukah by The Sea” event honoring the first night of the Jewish holiday of Chanukah, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger. At least 1,000 people are reported to have been in attendance. Authorities also found “several improvised explosive devices” inside a car, according to Australia News 7. Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the attack an act of “evil antisemitism.” “There are nights that tear at the nation’s soul. In this moment of darkness, we must be each other’s light,” he said. “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian, and every Australian tonight will be like me, devastated by this attack on our way of life.” My statement on the Bondi shooting attack. pic.twitter.com/LRAbMpcUEm — Anthony Albanese (@AlboMP) December 14, 2025 Secretary of State Marco Rubio condemned the attack, noting that “Antisemitism has no place in this world.” “The United States strongly condemns the terrorist attack in Australia targeting a Jewish celebration,” he said. “Our prayers are with the victims of this horrific attack, the Jewish community, and the people of Australia.” Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the man before his identity was made known. “I saw a video of a Jew who lunges at one of the murderers, disarms him of the weapon, and saves who knows how many souls.” נתניהו על הפיגוע באוסטרליה: “ראיתי סרטון של יהודי שמתנפל על אחד המרצחים שומט ממנו את הנשק ומציל מי יודע כמה נפשות” העובדות: על פי הדיווח באוסטרליה האדם שצולם מתנפל על הרוצח הוא מוסלמי בשם אחמד, בעל דוכן מיצים באיזור. pic.twitter.com/DlkPfaBxTm — בודקים (@bodkim2022) December 14, 2025

Days after Hamas attacked Israel in 2023, killing some 1,200 people and sparking the war in Gaza, an inverted red triangle was spray-painted on the front of a Jewish bakery in Sydney, the first of a string of antisemitic incidents in Australia. Sixteen months and thousands of arson, firebombing, graffiti, and hate-speech incidents later, the head of the nation’s main intelligence agency declared that antisemitism was his number one priority in terms of threat to life. Sunday’s shooting attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, which killed at least 12 people and wounded dozens, brought to reality a fear that many Australian Jews say they have been living with: that they are no longer safe in the country that was supposed to protect them. “This is the worst fears of the Jewish community,” Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sky News. “It’s been bubbling under the surface for a long time, and now it’s actually happened.” Australia’s Jewish diaspora is small but deeply embedded in the wider community, with about 150,000 people who identify as Jewish in the country of 27 million. About one-third of them are estimated to live in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, including Bondi. Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, calling the Hanukkah shootings a devastating terrorist attack targeting Jewish people, said his government would “dedicate every resource to making sure you are safe and protected.” Amid constant reports of Jewish parents afraid to take their children to daycare and Jewish schools hiring extra security, the government last year appointed its first special envoy to combat antisemitism. “Being Jewish, it’s been a very challenging few years,” said Terry, who gave only his first name and was at a nearby Hanukkah event that was put into lockdown. “Maybe we need to move to Israel one day. The irony is that that’s looking like the only real safe place in the world we can be as Jews.” Ryvchin’s organisation logged some 1,600 anti-Jewish incidents in the year to September 30, about three times the number in any year before the Hamas attack and Israel’s response, according to a report it published this month. One of those incidents was antisemitic graffiti on Ryvchin’s former home near Bondi Beach in January, the report said. Other incidents included a childcare centre firebombed and emblazoned with antisemitic graffiti, also in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, and two public hospital nurses who were sacked after being captured on a social media video-chat platform saying they would turn away Israeli patients. “The inevitable has happened now,” said Rabbi Levi Wolff of Central Sydney Synagogue, speaking in Bondi. As a Jew in Australia, he added, “You’re always looking behind you.” Reporting by Byron Kaye and Pete McKenzie; Editing by William Mallard

Officials announced in the early Sunday morning hours that a “person of interest” had been detained in the deadly shooting that took place less than one day earlier at Brown University. Colonel Oscar Perez, Providence Police Department Chief, did not reveal many details about the “person of interest,” but The New York Times reported that the university lifted the standing “shelter in place” order around the same time. “We are able to report that we have detained a person of interest involved in yesterday’s shooting,” Providence Mayor Brett Smiley announced in an early morning press conference on Sunday. “Colonel Perez will speak in a minute about that update. Second, I want to let the Providence community know that effective immediately, we are lifting the shelter in place for Brown and the related area.” “The people of Providence should breathe a little easier this morning,” he said. Perez followed up by confirming that the person who was detained was “in their 30s,” and said that officials were not currently looking for anyone else in connection with the attack. The attack took place during an exam review session for an economics class, when a masked gunman burst into the classroom and opened fire. Brown University President Christina Paxson took some heat on Saturday for not knowing — a full six hours after the shooting occurred — what had been taking place in the classroom when the shooter burst in. WATCH: ? HOLY CRAP! A reporter just PUMMELED the President of Brown University for having NO ANSWERS on the mass shooting REPORTER: “President, with all due respect, SIX HOURS after the shooting, and you DON’T KNOW what was going on in that classroom??! How does that happen? Were they… pic.twitter.com/EgdQDXGmVv — Nick Sortor (@nicksortor) December 14, 2025 Paxson revealed that she’d been in Washington, D.C., when the shooting took place and have jumped on a flight immediately when the news broke. “I’m just catching up,” she said. “President, with all due respect, SIX HOURS after the shooting, you don’t know what was going on in that classroom? How does that happen? Were they taking an exam? Were they meeting for a club?” “I don’t know,” Paxson replied. “Six hours later. You’re the president. You don’t know?” the reporter seemed incredulous. “I do not know,” Paxson repeated. “That’s kind of concerning,” the reporter observed. Since the shooting took place, officials at Brown University have canceled all final exams. Instead, they advised students to go home and take care of themselves. “For the moment, we encourage everyone to focus on their own safety and well-being,” the provost announced.