Calls for greater Bondi police presence went unheeded

December 27, 2025 — 7.13am

In the aftermath of such a major tragedy as the attack on Bondi Beach that left 15 dead and dozens of others injured, the balance between reflection and action is a difficult one to strike.

Is there any use in trying to understand how something so senseless could occur? Yes, we must. The public demands it. The grieving Jewish community deserves it.

Annie, left, and Arieh, centre, mourn at the funeral of their son Dan Elkayam, a young French Jewish man who was killed in the mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach.Credit: AP

And something must change. But what should be done, and what is acceptable to do, to guarantee, to the extent one ever can, that such a tragedy never occurs again?

A lingering question around the circumstances that led to the events on December 14 is to what extent the police were prepared for the attack.

Max Maddison, Elias Visontay and Riley Walter report today that NSW Police did not heed requests by the Jewish volunteer security organisation for a stronger police presence ahead of the deadly Bondi Beach Hanukkah celebration, even after the security group had deemed the event high-risk.

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NSW Police declined to confirm the truth of the report, noting the circumstances are now subject to three separate ongoing investigations: a critical incident investigation, a criminal investigation, and a coronial inquest.

In time, through the reflection prompted by these three investigations, we may come to understand how not a single police officer was permanently stationed at the event.

After last Sunday’s vigil of reflection, this week the NSW government set its mind on taking action.

In a recalled parliament, Premier Chris Minns pushed through his legislative package developed in response to December 14’s tragedy.

The omnibus bill makes it an offence to display a terrorist symbol, such as the IS flag; places significant restrictions on firearm possession; and allows the police commissioner to prevent protests occurring for up to three months after a terrorism incident, a power that NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon exercised less than 24 hours after the bill was passed.

The restrictions on protest have been controversial and will be the subject of a constitutional challenge. They come after Australia’s antisemitism envoy called a pro-Palestine protest on the Harbour Bridge in August a “warning” that a tragedy like December 14 could occur.

But, regardless of their ability to address antisemitism, a protest crackdown would not have addressed the Jewish community’s concerns about police complacency at the Hanukkah by the Sea event.

As the Herald’s chief reporter, Jordan Baker, wrote in the days after the attack, it was general duties police – the kind who usually deal with motor vehicle accidents, shoplifting and pub brawls – who found themselves responsible for stopping the deadliest attack Australia has witnessed in 30 years.

It is essential that the planned investigations into the circumstances that led to the tragedy at Bondi determine whether police should have been better prepared to deal with the incident, especially given what is now known about concerns previously raised by the Jewish community.

It is unacceptable that these concerns were not heeded. In their grief, the Jewish community deserve to know why.

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