A Chanukah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach descended into chaos Sunday evening after a mass shooting left multiple people dead and injured, according to Australian authorities, in what Jewish leaders are calling a targeted attack on the Jewish community.
New South Wales Police confirmed that several victims were shot during the incident and that at least two suspects were taken into custody. Officials described the situation as ongoing and urged the public to avoid the area while emergency responders secured the scene.
The shooting took place during a large public Chanukah lighting event organized by the Chabad-Lubavitch movement, which had drawn thousands of attendees, including families with children. Eyewitnesses reported panic as gunfire erupted, sending crowds fleeing for safety.
Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, said he was in direct contact with Jewish leaders in Australia as details continued to emerge. “There are many casualties, including fatalities,” Chikli stated, adding that further updates would be shared as information became available.
Emergency services responded with significant force. NSW Ambulance confirmed that multiple victims were treated at the scene and that at least six people were transported to nearby hospitals. “We have many, many units in the area,” an ambulance spokesperson said.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese was briefed on the unfolding situation, with his office urging the public to follow police instructions as authorities worked to stabilize the area.
Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, described the attack as deliberate and highly targeted. Speaking to Sydney radio station 2GB, he said a senior staff member from his organization was injured. “Hundreds of people were gathered. It’s a family event,” Ryvchin said. “People heard dozens of popping sounds and started running, grabbing their children. It was mayhem.”
New South Wales opposition leader Kellie Sloane, who was present at Bondi Beach at the time of the attack, echoed those concerns, calling it “a horrific attack on our way of life” and “a very targeted attack on our Jewish community.”
In response to the attack, the Combat Antisemitism Movement (CAM) issued a sharply worded statement, warning that the violence did not occur in a vacuum.
“Unfortunately, the writing was on the wall,” said Sacha Roytman Dratwa, CEO of CAM. “Over the last few years, Australia has turned from a paradise to a nightmare for parts of the Jewish community. Synagogues were burned, Jews were attacked and harassed on the streets, and now they have been targeted for murder at a public religious event.”
Roytman Dratwa placed blame on what he described as years of unchecked antisemitic rhetoric in public discourse. “The Australian government has allowed far too much antisemitism to pass in the public sphere, including incendiary expressions of anti-Israel rhetoric, and this has made the situation extremely volatile. Some might have read this as permission to hunt Jews openly in broad daylight as we see today.”
CAM urged authorities to respond not only by apprehending those responsible, but by confronting the broader climate that enabled the attack. “We call on the Australian authorities to not just hunt down all those involved but take a far stronger stance against incitement against Jews in all of its forms, from the far-Left, the far-Right and Islamist preachers,” Roytman Dratwa said. “The moment for action has long passed.”
He also warned global leaders against responding by retreating from public Jewish life. “We also know that there will be a reflex to cancel Chanukah lighting events around the world. This is wrong and sends a message to the Jewish community that you cannot be protected and must hide,” he said. “We call on leaders around the world, along with law enforcement agencies, to ensure that the annual celebratory Chanukah lighting events continue with adequate protection and the support and attendance for all, Jews and non-Jews alike.”
Authorities continue to investigate the attack as the Jewish community in Australia — and around the world — reels from what many are calling one of the most serious antisemitic acts of violence in the country’s recent history.
