Before the Bondi Beach Attack, Mossad Warned Australia Of Heightened Threat To Jewish Community

Israel’s intelligence agency, Mossad, claimed that it had warned Australian authorities of a heightened danger of attacks on Jewish targets in Australia, reported the Kan public broadcaster of Israel. Earlier, New South Wales Police Comissioner Mal Lanyon stated, “If the police had had intelligence that there was a risk to the community or to this event, we would’ve taken significant action.”

This came after horrific scenes on Bondi Beach in Sydney, where at least 11 people were shot to death by terrorists while celebrating Hanukkah. Video taken at the scene showed two gunmen firing into crowds gathered at the beach local, as hundreds of people fled in panic and sought shelter at nearby buildings. This is one of the most deadly attacks on Jews outside of Israel since Hamas’s October 7, 2023, attack. Hundreds of people had gathered at a beach playground for an event dubbed Chanukah by the Sea to celebrated the first day of the commemoration.

Approximately 30 people were wounded, and the death toll remains fluid as hospitals tend to victims. Among the dead is Rabbi Eli Schlanger of the Chabad Lubavitch movement. The shooting began late Sunday afternoon in Sydney when two men dressed in black opened fire. Eyewitnesses said they heard at least 50 shots fired by the pair, while one witness said that police did not immediately respond and appeared “frozen” as shots rang out.

“This attack was designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community,” said the New South Wales state’s premier, Chris Minns. Police Commissioner Lanyon declared the massacre a terrorist attack due to the event targeted and weapons used. One terrorist used what appeared to be a repeating shotgun.

More than 1,000 people, including children, were attending the event which featured live music. A ceremonial lighting of a grand menorah had been scheduled.

A witness to the shooting, Haim Levy, told Channel 12 of Israel that he was with his wife and child when the attack began. “It was immediately clear that something [terrible] was happening,” he said. As bullets flew by, the family found cover behind parked cars. Levy tried to calm his 2-year-old son out of fear that the terrorists would find them. “Thank God we survived, when bullets were flying in all directions… It seemed never-ending.”

According to authorities, one shooter was killed a second was taken into custody in serious condition. A dramatic video shared widely on social media showed a man who tackled and disarmed one of the gunmen before turning the weapon on him. In the footage, a second person can be seen standing on a bridge and firing at people hiding between cars. In another video, purportedly taken by a drone, a second gunman firing a rifle from a pedestrian bridge before he was shot to death by uniformed police.

Police have since found a “number of suspicious items located in the vicinity” that are reportedly improvised explosive devices found in one of the suspects’ cars. Saying he was “devastated,” Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters “This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith. An act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism that has struck the heart of our nation.” Albanese said, “There is no place for this hate, violence and terrorism in our nation.”

“Amidst this vile act of violence and hate will emerge a moment of national unity where Australians across the board will embrace their fellow Australians of Jewish faith,” he said. “The evil that was unleashed at Bondi Beach today is beyond comprehension, and the trauma and loss that families are dealing with tonight is beyond anyone’s worst nightmare.”

Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia,  said the attack may lead to a mass exodus of Australian Jews. “This may be the worst attack on Jews anywhere in the world since October 7, and it’s the second-worst mass shooting in Australian history,” he said. “I don’t know what happens now.” In recent years, Australian Jews have seen a surge of antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment and during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, including protests that included antisemitic rhetoric and arson attacks that police accused Iran of directing.

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said he was appalled by the shooting and that Australia’s government must “come to its senses” after countless warnings.“These are the results of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years, with the antisemitic and inciting calls of ‘Globalise the Intifada’ that were realised today,” he tweeted in English on X.

Arsen Ostrovsky published the above photo on social media during the attack. He survived.