‘Act of pure evil’ after 16 dead in Bondi terror attack
Anthony Albanese says the Bondi terror attack that killed 16 people was “an act of pure evil”, while others are calling on the prime minister to take action.
Hundreds of people gathered at Sydney’s Bondi Beach to celebrate the first day of Hanukkah when gunmen opened fire, injuring at least 42 people.
Authorities say the incident was a deliberate attack on the Jewish community.
The Prime Minister said the day “should be a joyful celebration and the Jewish community is suffering today” and Australians stand with them.
“What we saw yesterday was an act of pure evil, an act of anti-Semitism, an act of terrorism on our shores in an iconic part of Australia,” Mr Albanese told reporters on Monday.
Mr Albanese did not directly respond to criticism from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who accused the government of “doing nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia”.
“About four months ago I sent a letter to Australian Prime Minister Albanese in which I warned that the Australian Government’s policy was promoting and promoting antisemitism,” Netanyahu said.
Dvir Abramovich, Chairman of the Anti-Defamation Commission, said that what happened in Bondi was a deadly terrorist massacre. “A Hanukkah celebration has been turned into a killing field. This is not just a crime scene. It’s a national trauma,” he said Sunday. he said. “Families and children who came to light candles were met with murder.
“Jews were hunted down and killed in Australia in public, in front of an alerted public, because they were Jews.”
Mr Albanese recognized the state of Palestine in August at the UN General Assembly in September, following similar statements by France, Britain and Canada.
The Prime Minister said today was a moment of national unity and promised to eliminate antisemitism.
Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the terror attack was a tragedy of unimaginable proportions and criticized the prime minister’s “empty words”.
“The carnage we saw at one of our nation’s most iconic landmarks is the culmination of the leadership’s unprecedented failure to heed the warning signs that were so clear to every eye-opening Australian,” he said in a statement.
“The last two years have been a tsunami of hatred that has left the local Jewish community feeling abandoned and alone.”
Foreign Minister Penny Wong met with her Israeli counterpart Gideon Sa’ar and told him of Israel’s “pain and sorrow over the deadly anti-Semitic terrorist attack.”
Sa’ar called for “a real change in the public atmosphere” towards Australia’s Jewish community and urged Ms Wong to take strong action, according to a statement from the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
Liberal MP Julian Leeser said the Jewish community, “known for its courage and fortitude”, had been shaken.
“We must come together, check in on each other, support our Jewish friends, and offer comfort where it is needed,” he said in a statement.
