A report on the mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia, last year suggests that counter-terror efforts against antisemitic actions be stepped up, as should gun buyback programs. File Photo by Mick Tsikas/EPA
A commission in Australia released its initial report on the mass shooting attack in December on a Hanukkah event, finding that the country needs to speed up gun reforms and improve security at Jewish events.
The Dec. 14 attack by a father and son who opened fire at the Bondi Beach event killed 16 and injured 40. It was the worst mass shooting in Australia in more than three decades.
The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion report, issued by former High Court Judge Virginia Bell, offered 14 recommendations the nation should take in the aftermath of the shooting, all of which Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said will be implemented, The BBC and The New York Times reported.
The report does not point to shortcomings or mistakes by the government — although there had been warnings from Jewish groups in Australia that religious events could be targeted by terrorists — but public hearings that are expected to start next week will specifically look at intelligence abilities and police tactics to help prevent similar tragedies in the future.
“Five months on from the attack, Australia’s Jewish community is still grieving, still hurting, still craving answers,” Albanese said about the report.
The report found that six days before the Bondi Beach event, the Community Security Group, a Jewish organization that works with local police to protect Jewish events and facilities, warned law enforcement that stepped up security was necessary amid “unprecedented volumes of antisemitic incidents.”
Antisemitism has increased globally since Israel’s military response in Gaza to the terror attacks of Oct. 7, 2023, that was staged by Hamas.
Specifically, the report recommends that counterterror efforts must be increased and improved at Jewish events, and that gun laws and gun buyback programs need to be strengthened.
The father and son duo carried six “long arms” to fire into crowds of people, all of which were licensed to the shooters.
