At least 16 people were killed and dozens more injured after gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, in an attack that Australian officials described as a targeted act of antisemitic terrorism. As authorities worked to secure the scene and identify those responsible, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu triggered international backlash by linking the massacre to the Australian government’s decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
New South Wales Police confirmed that one suspect was killed and another is in custody. According to the Australian Broadcasting Corporation, a suspected improvised explosive device was also found in a nearby vehicle. ABC reported that “one of the gunmen has been identified as Naveed Akram from Bonnyrigg in Sydney’s southwest,” adding that “an official, speaking on condition of anonymity, says Mr Akram’s home in Bonnyrigg is being raided by police.”
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese characterized the shooting as “a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith,” calling it “an act of evil, antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation.” Albanese added, “There is no place for this hate, violence, and terrorism in our nation,” and said many people were alive “because of the courage and quick action of the New South Wales Police, and the first responders who rushed to their aid, as well as the courage of everyday Australians who, without hesitating, put themselves in danger in order to keep their fellow Australians safe.”
One of those civilians was identified by Australian media as Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old Muslim fruit shop owner and father. Video footage that circulated widely online showed him tackling one of the gunmen and taking his weapon. A cousin told reporters that Ahmed al Ahmed was shot twice and required surgery but was expected to recover. Democratic congressional candidate and outgoing New York City Comptroller Brad Lander, who is Jewish, described the act as “extraordinary courage” and said the man “bravely risked his life to save his neighbors celebrating Hanukkah.” Lander added, “Praying for his full and speedy recovery. And so deeply inspired by his example.”
As Australia mourned, Netanyahu released a video and transcript on the social media platform X in which he connected the massacre to Australia’s recent recognition of Palestinian statehood. Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent in August to Albanese following the announcement by Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong. In that letter, Netanyahu wrote: “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.”
The Israeli leader’s remarks drew swift condemnation from journalists, analysts, activists, and political figures who argued that Netanyahu was exploiting an antisemitic atrocity to attack Palestinian self-determination and deflect from Israel’s own actions in Gaza and the West Bank. Jasper Nathaniel, a journalist who reports on the illegally occupied West Bank, described Netanyahu’s comments as a “depraved response to a depraved act.” In a separate thread, Nathaniel wrote, “Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror. Just like massacring unarmed men, women, and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-Palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians.”
Ali Abunimah, director of Electronic Intifada, said, “Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does.” Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, rejected Netanyahu’s framing outright, stating, “This is absurd. Calling to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and Palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future.”
Cameron Kasky, a survivor of the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida, who is now running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, said Netanyahu’s comments amounted to “an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people.”
Netanyahu himself acknowledged the actions of Ahmed al Ahmed, saying, “we saw an action of a brave man—turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him—that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews.” However, critics noted that the Israeli leader then “doubled down” on what he called Albanese’s “weakness” over recognizing Palestinian statehood.
Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, responded to Netanyahu by saying that “blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence.” Rad added, “If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you’re not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people. It’s not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others.”
The attack at Bondi Beach unfolded against a broader global context in which mass shootings are extremely rare in Australia. As the Associated Press noted, a 1996 massacre in Port Arthur, Tasmania, in which 35 people were killed, prompted the country to drastically tighten gun laws. Since then, significant mass shootings have been infrequent, with a handful of incidents involving far smaller death tolls. The Bondi Beach attack followed a deadly shooting at Brown University in Providence, Rhode Island, underscoring the stark contrast between Australia and the United States, where such violence is far more common.
In the United States, authorities said they were monitoring the situation closely. The New York Police Department stated that “we are in touch with our Australian partners, and at this time we see no nexus to NYC. We are deploying additional resources to public Hanukkah celebrations and synagogues out of an abundance of caution.” American political figures also condemned the attack. Dr. Abdul El-Sayed, a Democratic US Senate candidate in Michigan, said that “the images out of Bondi Beach in Australia this morning of a vile, antisemitic massacre at a Hanukkah celebration are shocking, disgusting, and heartbreaking,” adding, “There is no justification for such a cowardly act of terrorism.”
While investigations into the Bondi Beach attack continue, critics of Netanyahu argue that his attempt to link the massacre to Australia’s recognition of Palestinian statehood lacks evidentiary support and risks trivializing antisemitic violence by instrumentalizing it for political ends. As Nathaniel wrote in response to Netanyahu’s remarks, “There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians.”
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