Rabbi condemns Australia’s response to Bondi Beach Hanukkah shooting

A senior New York rabbi has condemned Australia’s “inaction” after a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Seashore was disrupted by a mass capturing that injured 40 individuals and killed at the very least 15, together with two distinguished rabbis.

Rabbi Schmaya Krinsky of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York Metropolis mentioned the assault, carried out by a father and son, mirrored a rising local weather of anti-Semitism in Australia that authorities had didn’t confront.

“Along with Rabbi Eli Schlanger, we have now now realized that Chabad Rabbi Yaakov Levitan has succumbed to his wounds. Could his reminiscence even be a blessing,” Krinsky instructed Fox Information Digital.

“Jewish individuals around the globe are uncomfortable proper now, however they’re defiant,” he mentioned. “Any incremental escalation of anti-Semitic language that’s tolerated has a direct and now lethal consequence and should not be allowed to go unchecked.”

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Police cordon off an space at Bondi Seashore after a terrorist assault throughout a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on December 14, 2025. (Mark Baker/AP Picture)

“Australian authorities should act with enthusiasm and root out each the actions and rhetoric that normalize anti-Semitism,” Krinsky added.

The tragic mass capturing on December 14 occurred when two gunmen opened hearth at a big ‘Chanukah by the Sea’ occasion close to Campbell Parade on Bondi Seashore.

The assault, which police reportedly investigated as a terrorist incident, concerned improvised explosive units present in one suspect’s automobile, as beforehand reported by Fox Information Digital.

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A member of the Jewish neighborhood reacts as he walks with police to the scene of a capturing on Sydney’s Bondi Seashore on December 14, 2025. (David Grey/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

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The eldest attacker was killed on the spot and his son was taken into custody in crucial situation.

Krinsky, who was additionally in Melbourne in July when there was an arson on the East Melbourne Synagogue, mentioned he had already seen the “unease” rising in Australia firsthand.

“I witnessed first-hand the discomfort and nervousness felt by many throughout the Australian Jewish neighborhood amid the rise in anti-Semitic incitement, and their sense that the authorities’ response was insufficient,” he mentioned.

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Rabbi Dovid Gutnick walks previous the outside harm to the East Melbourne Hebrew Congregation in Melbourne on Saturday, July 5, 2025, after an arsonist set the door on hearth. (James Ross/AAP picture by way of AP)

“At that time there was a way that the Jewish neighborhood in Australia was changing into more and more uncomfortable in regards to the lack of a robust sufficient response to those acts.”

Schlanger, 41, one of many first deceased victims to be recognized, was an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and organizer of the seaside occasion.

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Emergency staff transport an individual on a stretcher after a reported capturing at Bondi Seashore in Sydney, Sunday, December 14, 2025. (Mark Baker/AP Picture)

“Whereas every Chabad middle operates independently, they perform below our international umbrella group,” Krinsky clarified. “There are not any phrases to precise the concern and disappointment brought on by this heartbreaking tragedy.”

“Rabbi Schlanger was one of many victims of this barbarism,” he added. “He had deep ties to the USA and studied right here. He has household right here and though the assault occurred far-off, we really feel nearer to him than ever this Hanukkah.”

“He was youthful than me, and we attended the identical academic establishments, albeit at completely different occasions,” Krinsky famous. “He devoted his life to dwelling in communities around the globe, removed from dwelling, impressed by the Rebbe’s teachings and imaginative and prescient.

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Armed police work on the scene following a capturing incident at Sydney’s Bondi Seashore on December 14, 2025. Australian police mentioned two individuals have been in custody following reviews of a number of gunshots on December 14 at Sydney’s well-known Bondi Seashore, and urged the general public to take shelter. (David Grey/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

Born in Britain, Schlanger married Chaya, the daughter of distinguished Australian Rabbi Yehoram Ulman.

“After their marriage some 18 years in the past, they moved to Sydney to assist develop the neighborhood and convey the wonder and spirit of Jewish custom to life for a lot of within the Sydney Jewish neighborhood,” Krinsky defined. “He would have discovered a spot the place he may transfer to do the work he wished to dedicate his life to.”

Because the world responded, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the assault as an “act of pure evil”, based on The Associated press.

“We’re crushed for the households who celebrated the Pageant of Lights at Bondi Seashore,” Krinsky mentioned.

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A well being employee strikes a stretcher after a capturing incident at Sydney’s Bondi Seashore on December 14, 2025. Australian police mentioned two individuals have been in custody after reviews of a number of gunshots on December 14 at Sydney’s well-known Bondi Seashore, and urged the general public to take shelter. (Saeed Khan/AFP by way of Getty Pictures)

“However each Chabad neighborhood worldwide is already doing what we do finest: spreading extra mild, strengthening Jewish delight and observance, and rising acts of goodness and kindness.”

“The perpetrator could have wished to dim the Hanukkah lights in Sydney, however they are going to burn even brighter throughout Australia and around the globe.”

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An explanation launched by the Chabad Lubavitch headquarters in New York mentioned: “Let’s be clear: This was an insidious act of terror – an assault on neighborhood, on goodness, and on mild itself. It displays a local weather wherein Jew-hatred has been allowed to develop and develop into violent. That actuality should be confronted.”

“We are going to honor the lives taken in rising Jewish follow, delight and visibility. Could their mild rise from this grief, and their reminiscence be a blessing to us all,” the assertion mentioned.