The fatal terrorist attack targeting Australian Jews celebrating Hanukkah in Sydney on Sunday was an event the nation’s small yet longstanding Jewish community had dreaded since a spate of incidents began following Hamas’ October 7, 2023, massacre in Israel.
Although Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese denounced the attack—describing it as “a targeted assault on Jewish Australians on the first day of Hanukkah”—his detractors argue that his Labor administration has not adequately addressed the worrying surge in antisemitic events nationwide.
Avi Yemini from Rebel News Australia, who has been documenting attacks on the Jewish community, told [Digital] that mere days after Hamas’ October 7, 2023, attack, “mobs of Islamic extremists were already openly searching for Jews here in Australia, chanting ‘Where are the Jews?’ outside the Sydney Opera House. Since then, synagogues and childcare centers have been firebombed, and repeated warnings ignored. With no meaningful government action to tackle this issue, tonight’s horrific attack was tragically unavoidable and is unlikely to be the last.”
He added: “The Australian Labor government has been reluctant to take firm action, partly due to its political dependence on votes from the Islamic community. As a result, many Australian Jews are now facing a devastating realization that this country is no longer as safe for us as it once was. I believe many will now seriously consider moving to Israel.”
Fueling further anger, Australian Labor Prime Minister Anthony Albanese faced criticism for failing to mention in an earlier posted statement that the deadly attack was directed at Jewish Australians.
After the attack, a journalist challenged Albanese about his government’s response to antisemitism, citing its recognition of a Palestinian state, Labor ministers criticizing the Israeli government and refusing to visit October 7 massacre sites, and the simultaneous appointment of special envoys for Islamophobia and antisemitism. The reporter asked Albanese whether his government had taken antisemitism seriously.
“Yes, we have taken it seriously,” Albanese replied. “And we’ve continued to act. We’ve kept working with Jewish community leaders. We’ve followed all advice from security agencies to put in place special measures, and we will keep doing so.”
Albanese’s press office did not respond to [Digital]’s request for comment on frustrations related to the prime minister’s handling of the mass shooting attack.
[ECAJ] recently recorded 1,654 anti-Jewish incidents across Australia between October 1, 2024, and September 30, 2025, “in addition to 2,062 incidents nationwide the previous year.”
The organization also noted: “Antisemitic incidents in Australia remain at historically high levels—nearly five times the average annual number before October 7, 2023… While there has been a slight decrease from last year’s all-time high, the most severe categories of incidents (including arson attacks on synagogues, preschools, and other Jewish institutions) are higher than in any prior year on record.”
Among the more disturbing incidents affecting Australia’s Jewish community since October 7, 2023, up to Sunday’s terror attack are:
Masked individuals set fire to Ripponlea’s Adass Israel Synagogue while congregants prayed in the morning. The blaze caused extensive damage and injured one worshipper.
Sydney’s Allawah Synagogue was vandalized with swastika graffiti. The next day, the Newtown Synagogue (also in Sydney) was similarly defaced. A week earlier, a car in Sydney had been spray-painted with an antisemitic phrase.
A childcare center near a Jewish school and synagogue in Sydney suffered significant property damage during an arson attack. Antisemitic graffiti was found inside.
A car was set ablaze in a Jewish community in Sydney, and up to seven homes in the area were damaged.
Two healthcare workers in Sydney, speaking to an Israeli man on the social platform Chatrouletka, said they would refuse treatment to Israeli patients and had previously killed Israeli patients.
Israeli Minister Gideon Sa’ar expressed his sorrow to Australian counterpart Penny Wong via phone. On X (formerly Twitter) Sunday, Sa’ar stated: “Security for Australia’s Jewish community will only be achieved through a real shift in the public atmosphere. Calls like ‘Globalize the Intifada,’ ‘From the River to the Sea Palestine Will Be Free,’ and ‘Death to the IDF’ are not legitimate, not part of freedom of speech, and inevitably lead to what we witnessed today. The Australian government must take strong action against these antisemitic slogans.”
Populist Australian Senator Pauline Hanson posted on X that Albanese “never heeded the warning signs—including weekly antisemitic protests across our nation, hate speech from certain religious clerics, our problematic universities, and possible terrorist alerts.” Hanson added that Australia’s Jewish community has “the same right to live in peace and harmony as all Australians” and called on authorities to “be transparent when disclosing the identities and backgrounds of these murderers.”