Australian Jewish group warned of ‘attack’ before Bondi mass shooting: Inquiry

SYDNEY – A Jewish community group warned the police that a terror attack was “likely” just days before two gunmen killed 15 people in a mass shooting at Australia’s Bondi Beach, an inquiry said on April 30.

Sajid Akram and son Naveed are accused of opening fire as Jewish families thronged Bondi Beach for a Hanukkah celebration in December, carrying out Australia’s deadliest mass shooting for 30 years.

Australia’s Jewish community “was the evident target of the attack”, a high-powered royal commission tasked with investigating the shooting concluded in an interim report.

The report revealed that, just days before the attack, a Jewish security group had warned the police about the threat of violence at Hanukkah celebrations.

“A terrorist attack against the NSW Jewish Community is likely and there is a high level of anti-Semitic vilification,” the Community Security Group wrote in an e-mail released by the inquiry.

The security group said they were told that the police could not provide dedicated officers for the Dec 14 festival, but would send mobile patrols to “check in and monitor the event”.

Jewish community leader Alex Ryvchin said that the organisers were struck by a “general feeling of unrest” ahead of the Hanukkah festival.

“The police are the ones that make decisions around resourcing, and it seems like this was not adequately done,” he told national broadcaster ABC. “We need to understand why those resourcing decisions were made.”

State premier Chris Minns said he took “responsibility” for failing to protect the victims. “If we had known what was going to happen, we would have put an army down there.”

Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said officers had considered the information provided by the Jewish group. “There were police present on that occasion, there had been a risk assessment, and there were certainly roving police throughout the area on that evening.”

The inquiry said police should consider ramping up security arrangements at future Jewish celebrations “that have a public facing element”.

Asked by reporters if the police had failed to protect the Bondi event, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told reporters that it was a matter for the New South Wales state government.

He said that he would “implement all the recommendations” of the report.

“I can assure the Australian public that the government will do everything necessary to protect the community in the wake of the Bondi attack,” he said.

The federal royal commission – the highest level of government inquiry – has been tasked with probing everything from intelligence failures to the prevalence of anti-Semitism in Australia.

It found that Australia’s counter-terrorism capabilities “could be improved”.

Law enforcement agencies should commence a snap review of “leadership structures” and “information sharing arrangements” between teams responsible for counter-terrorism, the inquiry found.

Several recommendations related to national security were redacted to protect sensitive information and ongoing investigations.

‘We demand answers’

The mass shooting has sparked national soul-searching about anti-Semitism, anger over the failure to shield Jewish Australians from harm, and promises to stiffen gun laws.

Australia announced a suite of gun law reforms following the shootings, including a nationwide gun buyback scheme.

The buyback scheme has since stalled as the federal government struggles to convince Australia’s states and territories to sign on. Australia should “prioritise efforts” to get the buyback started, the inquiry recommended.

Victims’ families penned an open letter in December urging Mr Albanese to establish the inquiry. “We demand answers and solutions,” they wrote.

Royal commissions hold public hearings and can sometimes run for years.

The Bondi Beach inquiry is led by Ms Virginia Bell, a widely respected former High Court judge.

Alleged gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by the police during the assault.

His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders. AFP