Australian officials should have seen the “writing on the wall” before last weekend’s terror attack that killed 15 people during Hanukkah celebrations at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, said Amichai Chikli, Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Combating Anti-Semitism.
Slogans such as “Globalize the intifada” and waving flags in support of Hamas, ISIS and other terror groups during an August protest on the iconic Sydney Harbor Bridge furthered the climate that led to the attack on Bondi Beach, he said.
“The prime minister said it was a demonstration of unification, of unity,” Chikli said. “I don’t think the leadership here has understood that words have meaning, and that sedition is something very, very dangerous. And so there was zero government action, zero condemnation.”
Democrats Unite Against Terror in SYDNEY – BUT FETTERMAN WARNS PARTY’S ANTI-ISRAEL RISE IS BOILING OVER
Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli (C), attends the Light Against Terror: Hanukkah Memorial event on Wednesday alongside former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott (L) at Chabad of Sydney’s Bondi Synagogue. (George Chan/Getty Images)
“The writing was on the wall,” he added. “It wasn’t a surprise. We knew it would happen one way or another [to] are violence.”
Since the attack, which killed a 10-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has taken steps to tighten the country’s already strict gun laws. In addition to the deaths, dozens more were injured.
“The government is ready to take all necessary measures. This includes the need for stricter gun laws,” Albanese said on Monday after a meeting with his national cabinet. “If we need to strengthen these, if we can do anything, I’m certainly willing to do that.”
The focus on gun control is an attempt to sidestep the real problem, Chikli said.
Were warnings ignored in Australia terror attack?
NSW Premier Chris Minns and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend a press conference at NSW Police headquarters following a fatal shooting during a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, December 16, 2025. (Hollie Adams/Reuters)
“It is uncomfortable for this government, which has been very supportive of these pro-Palestinian demonstrations, to say loud and clear that we have a problem of jihadist violence against radical Islam,” he said. “I have never heard the Prime Minister of Australia use the words radical Islam. It seems beyond his ability to just say the words radical Islam.
“It’s not the shotgun that killed these innocent people. It’s the man behind it,” he added.
“People who have this perversion of Islam that leads them to support the Islamic State, and they feel that there is a reward for them somehow,” he said. “That is not the case. They are evil. We have to make sure we do what is in our power. That means education. It also means rooting out evil and calling out evil when we see it. And we will continue to do that, not just as a government, but as a nation.”
In a podcast interview broadcast the same day, Albanese said the suspects involved in the attack were motivated by “the kind of ideology of the Islamic State.”
“There were flags in the back of their vehicle that they drove to Bondi to cause damage,” he said. “This is a perverse ideology, a terrorist ideology that does not respect human life, and is anti-Semitic in character, but also anti-humanity.”
EYEWITNESS TO AUSTRALIA TERROR ATTACK DESCRIBES ‘PANDEMONIUM’ DURING FATAL SHOOTING AT HANUKKAH EVENT
Rabbi Yossi Friedman addresses people gathering at a floral memorial at the Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach on Tuesday, December 16, 2025, following the shooting in Sydney on Sunday. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)
“It started with hate speechshe said. ‘Then graffiti. Then public demonstrations. Then bomb synagogues, kindergartens, people’s houses, people’s cars. And now murder.”
She said Jewish leaders and community representatives repeatedly sounded the alarm to state and federal officials, warning that inaction would lead to bloodshed. Taylor pointed to formal submissions and a detailed report from Australia’s special envoy to combat anti-Semitism, which she said was recognized by the government but never implemented.
Chikli, who has visited Australia since the attack and attended the victims’ funerals, compared the Australian leadership to the Biden administration, which has been criticized by some who said it had failed to invoke Islamic extremism in favor of woke ideology.
Israel’s Minister of Diaspora Affairs and Anti-Semitism, Amichai Chikli, speaks at the Light Against Terror: Hanukkah Memorial event at Chabad of Bondi Synagogue in Sydney on Wednesday. (George Chan/Getty Images)
On the other hand, he noted that the Trump administration has pressured U.S. universities to tackle anti-Semitism and has taken action to revoke visas for foreign students who participate in anti-Israel demonstrations and fuel radical movements.
“The Biden administration is similar in ideology to the current leadership here in Australia – progressive, woke, weak leadership,” Chikli said. “It’s that simple, without any way to tackle the threat of radical Islam and without any action.”
A woman kneels and prays at a floral memorial for the shooting victims outside the Bondi Pavilion on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Monday, December 15, 2025, a day after a shooting. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)
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He also noted that he had not seen current Australian officials at the victims’ funerals.
