Police in Melbourne boost security as Hanukkah events cut short after Bondi shooting
Updated ,first published
Jewish children in Melbourne were supposed to wake up to the second day of Hanukkah on Monday and celebrate the end of the school year. Instead, they woke up to the blood of the Bondi massacre, which left at least 16 people dead, including a 10-year-old girl.
Extra police resources have been deployed to Melbourne’s Jewish community schools and centres, particularly the Caulfield and Glen Eira areas, in response to targeted mass shootings on Bondi Beach.
In Sydney, authorities locked down the entire Jewish community’s infrastructure, including synagogues and schools, in response to the massacre. The directive has not yet been extended to Victoria, but the local community is ready to take action quickly.
While many public schools are scheduled to finish the school year near the weekend, most independent schools, including Jewish schools, have already closed for the summer holidays.
However, there are still many Jewish schools that will finish Term 4 on Tuesday.
Jewish Community Council of Victoria chief executive Naomi Levin said it was not “business as usual” but arrangements were being made to ensure the safety of students and staff at Jewish schools still operating.
“The best thing we know we need to do for kids is to help them get back to some degree of normalcy,” Levin said.
“What we need to do as community leadership is to ensure that our children can continue to go to school, with the support of our law enforcement and government.
“While all Australian children were able to go to school safely this morning without a second thought, I find it really difficult to even consider removing Jewish children from school.”
On Sunday night, the first night of Hanukkah celebrations, organizers abruptly ended events at Melbourne’s Caulfield Racecourse and Federation Square.
Victoria Police stressed there was “no known threat locally”. However, he stated that he understood the fear and anxiety that the Jewish people would feel.
Levin said there are no immediate plans to cancel other major festivals planned for this week and that it is the community’s “deepest wish” that the events continue.
“We will do everything we can as community leadership to ensure our community can continue to proudly live their Jewish lives here in Australia,” he said.
But he said further decisions would be guided by police.
‘I feel physically sick just thinking about hearing who it is, because it will no doubt be my friends, colleagues, family members or people I know.’
Naomi Levin, executive director of the Jewish Community Council of Victoria
Just a year ago, Levin stood outside the firebombed Adass Israel synagogue in the suburb of Ripponlea and thought: “It can’t get any worse than this.”
He said he was afraid to hear the names of those killed in the Bondi attack on Sunday night.
“It physically bothers me to hear who it is, because it will no doubt be my friends, my co-workers, my family members, or people I know. So we’re waiting with complete dread,” Levin said.
“We just want to live in peace as a Jewish people.”
Former federal treasurer Josh Frydenberg issued a damning statement in response to Sunday’s attack, calling it a “tragedy of unimaginable proportions” and saying Australia will never be the same.
“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,” Frydenberg said in a statement.
Victoria Police’s statement on Sunday spoke of the “shock and distress” the police force experienced at the events in Bondi and stated that the police stood by the Jewish community.
It was increasing the resources allocated to the Operations Park, which was established in October 2023 to monitor and coordinate the investigation of crimes related to the Middle East conflict, predominantly targeting Jewish people.
Victoria Police said the statewide operation would include increased police presence around places of worship and locations important to the Jewish community, including schools, synagogues and community halls.
Prime Minister Jacinta Allan, who expressed her horror and sadness at the Bondi attack on Sunday night, was due to meet representatives of Melbourne’s Jewish community on Tuesday morning.
Caulfield member state lower house MP David Southwick said Bondi was attacking Jews in Australia.
“This attack was an attack on the Jewish presence in Australia. Many people in the Victorian Jewish community know someone affected by the attack,” Southwick wrote on social media.
“This violence has been on the rise for the past two years, and this tragedy represents a devastating climax.”
Macnamara Labor Party member Josh Burns said in a statement that Hanukkah was a festival of “hope, resilience and tradition”.
“But now it has become unimaginable pain and our hearts are broken,” Burns said.
“Over the next few days we will all be working together to support each other.”
Victorian opposition leader Jess Wilson says she stands with Australia’s Jewish community.
“This heinous act of targeted violence will cause great distress to Australia’s Jewish communities and more broadly at an already vulnerable time,” Wilson said in a statement.
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Aisha Dow is an investigative journalist for The Age. A Walkley award winner, he previously worked as a health editor and co-authored a book about the COVID-19 outbreak in Australia.Connect with: excitement or email.
Roy Ward is a sports writer, live blogger and breaking news journalist. He has been writing for The Age since 2010.Connect with: excitement or email.
