Bondi Beach terror is a cowardly act defeated by bravery

December 15, 2025 — 5.19pm

Australia was the happy land where freedom of worship, free speech and freedom of assembly promised a new life for some and a better life for all.

But the murderous attack on Jewish families while they celebrated Hanukkah on Bondi Beach has cast a pall over some of the treasured beliefs that unite us and radically changed how the rest of the world may perceive us.

People gather at the Bondi Beach vigil for victims of Sunday’s attack.Credit: Steven Siewert

The killing of 16 people and wounding of at least another 42 is the deadliest attack on Jewish citizens since the Hamas raids on Israel in October 2023. The story led news websites and newspapers across the world as the shock, surprise and horror rolled out from the very beach that symbolises the best of our country.

The Bondi Beach shootings are unprecedented. Over the past five decades, infrequent, indiscriminate mass shootings have punctuated Australian lives – Port Arthur, Strathfield, Queen Street, Hoddle Street – with most carried out by loners, some with mental health problems.

But police alleged the Bondi Beach killings were carried out by a father and son, and authorities quickly identified their actions as terrorism. The 50-year-old father is dead and his son, 24, is in a critical but stable condition. Coincidentally, the slaughter on Sunday occurred on the eve of the 11th anniversary of the Lindt Cafe siege in Sydney’s CBD, the attack that alerted many to the real threat posed by fanatic assassins.

Now, as the Lindt siege and the Bondi Junction stabbing deaths last April showed, Sydney comes together like at no other time after such tragedies. However, Bondi Beach is something we have not seen before, and there will be plenty of questions that may take time to be answered.

Gun reform will be at the forefront. After Port Arthur, Australia was considered a world leader on firearm ownership reform, but one of the Bondi shooters legally owned six firearms, prompting Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to propose new legislation to limit the number of guns used or licensed by individuals.

The unimpeded rise of antisemitism has also been exposed at Bondi Beach.

Days after the 2023 massacre by Hamas, pro-Palestinian protesters chanted antisemitic slogans at the Opera House, while the Jewish community were told to avoid the CBD to guarantee their safety. Despite an inquiry and new legislation, an outbreak of graffiti and fire attacks around synagogues and schools, homes and vehicles has occurred around Australia and has been relentlessly building to Sunday.

The issue continued to polarise politics. Opposition Leader Sussan Ley asserted on Monday that there has been a failure in leadership to stamp out antisemitism. “There is palpable anger because antisemitism in Australia has been left to fester,” she said.

But this blackest of days surely hurts us all. Perhaps a sense of unity and the calm resolution displayed by Ahmed el Ahmed running towards danger to disarm the cowardly shooter is the surest way to shine a light into the darkness and lift the pall.

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