Hanukkah shooting leaves at least 11 dead at Australia’s most popular beach
Families were gathered at Bondi Beach for a Chabad event, where at least one rabbi was killed
A member of the Jewish community reacts as he walks with police toward the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney Dec. 14. Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images
A Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach turned deadly on Sunday with reports of at least 11 dead, including a Chabad rabbi, amid rising antisemitism in Australia.
One suspect was killed at the scene and the other was arrested, in a targeted attack on Jews that authorities are investigating as terrorism. Police said they found an explosive device in a car belonging to the gunman, who was killed.
The event was held by Chabad of Bondi, and one of its leaders, Rabbi Eli Schlanger, was killed in the shooting, Chabad’s media director told The New York Times.
The event was advertised as also being sponsored by Chabad for Israelis, a synagogue and community designed for Israelis living in the area, and the Waverly Council, the local government office that manages events at the beach.
“This is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah, which should be a day of joy,” said Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. “An attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.”
U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio responded to the attack on Sunday morning. “Antisemitism has no place in this world. Our prayers are with the victims of this horrific attack, the Jewish community, and the people of Australia,” he said on X.
This isn’t the first antisemitic incident at Bondi Beach. In October 2024, arsonists attacked a brewery there that they had incorrectly identified as a kosher caterer.
Earlier this month, a group of Jewish leaders from Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States met in Sydney to coordinate responses to rising antisemitism there and internationally.
In recent months, two synagogues have been attacked in Melbourne, an Israeli restaurant was stormed, and antisemitic attacks have quadrupled since Oct. 7, according to an Australian Jewish group’s report.
“This is an attack on the Jewish community that deeply that pains us,” said Robert Gregory, the chief executive of the Australian Jewish Association, of the Bondi Beach killings.
The incident immediately became one of the deadliest attacks on Jews outside of Israel in decades. It comes as Australian Jews have experienced a surge of antisemitic incidents and anti-Israel sentiment during the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, including protests that police said included antisemitic rhetoric and arson attacks that police accused Iran of directing.
Australian officials are investigating whether Iran could be behind this attack as well, Jeremy Leibler, president of the Zionist Federation of Australia, told The Times of Israel. Last summer, Australia accused Iran of involvement in at least two 2024 incidents: the October firebombing of Lewis’ Continental Kitchen, a kosher deli in Sydney, and the December arson attack on Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue that destroyed much of the historic house of worship.
“This may be the worst attack on Jews anywhere in the world since Oct. 7, and it’s the second-worst mass shooting in Australian history,” Leibler said. “I don’t know what happens now.”
JTA and Benyamin Cohen contributed to this report.
