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Slain rabbi’s warning to Australian PM gains urgency after terror attack

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A friend of Rabbi Eli Schlanger says warnings about rising antisemitism in Australia went unheeded for years before his tragic death in a terrorist attack during Hanukkah celebrations at Bondi Beach on Sunday.

“The writing was literally written on the walls. It was written on the walls of my nephew’s school, it was written on the walls at Bondi Junction, it was written on the walls of many synagogues, and the warnings were ignored,” Jewish Israeli advocate Mor Greenberg said on “Fox & Friends” Monday.

A father and his son were behind a mass shooting that killed at least 16 people, including one of the gunmen, and hospitalized 40 people during Sydney’s annual “Hanukkah by the Sea” event, police said.

TERRORIST ATTACK IN AUSTRALIA: 16 DEAD, INCLUDING THE GUNMAN, AFTER THE FATHER-SON TWO OPENED FIRE AT THE JEWISH COMMUNITY

A menorah is projected onto the sails of the Sydney Opera House following a shooting during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, on December 15, 2025. (Hollie Adams/Reuters)

A letter Schlanger wrote to the Australian prime minister imploring him not to “betray the Jewish people” attracted renewed attention after the attack.

Presenter Brian Kilmeade read an excerpt from Schlanger’s September 21 letter to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese; Here the rabbi said the leader “has the opportunity to stand for truth and righteousness.”

Greenberg said Schlanger was “extremely frustrated” and that he was not alone.

“At a certain point it starts to get frustrating and you wonder, ‘How many times am I going to have to do this?’ you say. “But then when I woke up and saw Rabbi Eli Schlanger’s face, this was someone I knew personally, everything came back to me even more closely,” he said.

“The Australian government rewarded terrorists. They rewarded Hamas with a Palestinian state. What do you think happens when you reward terrorism? It just brings more terrorism.”

SPECTATOR IN AUSTRALIA DISARMED THE SUSPECT HIGHER FROM HANUKKAH ATTACK IN AUSTRALIA

Kilmeade then played a clip in which Albanians insisted his government took antisemitism seriously. Greenberg backed down.

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“Absolutely not. I can say that my family and friends there are afraid. They feel the need to hide their Judaism. This is a Western country. It is very difficult to believe,” he said. “That’s what they convey to me. They can’t believe the situation they’re facing. They can’t believe the lack of action.”

“Everybody feels like this government has failed them. This was a moment where they could really step up and say, ‘We’re going to stand with the Jewish community.’ And I don’t think they’ve stepped up to that point.”