Skip To Content
JEWISH. INDEPENDENT. NONPROFIT.
Fast Forward

Sydney Synagogue Blocked Over Terror Fears Will Try Again

SYDNEY (JTA) — A Chabad congregation whose bid for a new synagogue building was blocked out of fears that it would become a target for terrorism will resubmit plans to the local municipality.

Leaders of the congregation, known as Friends of Refugees of Eastern Europe, or FREE, met Wednesday with Sydney’s Waverley Council to discuss the proposed synagogue and apartments to be built near the popular Bondi Beach.

The congregation made international headlines last week when a zoning court upheld the council’s decision to ban the construction of the synagogue in the Sydney suburb of Waverly because it could become the target of a terrorist attack.

Jewish leaders said the decision was anti-Semitic and a sop to terrorists, while the Waverley Council claimed FREE had not adequately addressed security concerns the congregation had raised in its own application.

After Wednesday’s meeting FREE announced they will submit plans for a new development application to build the synagogue in Bondi. It and the council suggested jointly that a proposed weekend protest would “be unproductive. ”

A message from our CEO & publisher Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

Republish This Story

Please read before republishing

We’re happy to make this story available to republish for free, unless it originated with JTA, Haaretz or another publication (as indicated on the article) and as long as you follow our guidelines. You must credit the Forward, retain our pixel and preserve our canonical link in Google search.  See our full guidelines for more information, and this guide for detail about canonical URLs.

To republish, copy the HTML by clicking on the yellow button to the right; it includes our tracking pixel, all paragraph styles and hyperlinks, the author byline and credit to the Forward. It does not include images; to avoid copyright violations, you must add them manually, following our guidelines. Please email us at [email protected], subject line “republish,” with any questions or to let us know what stories you’re picking up.

We don't support Internet Explorer

Please use Chrome, Safari, Firefox, or Edge to view this site.