He pointed to tolerated public expressions of hatred, including chants of "gas the Jews" on the Sydney Harbour Bridge and the "genocidal slogan 'from the river to the sea," a call, he said, for the "extermination of all Israeli Jews."
Goldstein warned: "What happened in Sydney is what 'globalize the intifada' looks like in action. A jihad against the Jews."
Drawing parallels to attacks on Jewish communities in Manchester, Amsterdam, and beyond, the Chief Rabbi asserted that the "globalized intifada" is "not a protest movement" or "resistance," but "a jihad of murder, terror and destruction" with no genuine link to Palestinian statehood."It never has," he emphasized, noting rejected opportunities for a Palestinian state in 1948, 1967, 2001, and subsequent years.
Instead, he explained that the conflict was part of a broader "multifront Islamist war" aimed at destroying the Jewish state first, then the West, encapsulated in the jihadist slogan: "First the Saturday people, then the Sunday people."
Goldstein criticized Western leaders, including Australia's Prime Minister, for endangering their own nations by recognizing a Palestinian state in response to the Gaza war, arguing it "rewards jihadi terror" and represents a "lethal mistake" for the free world. He urged governments to recognize Israel and Jews as "on the front lines defending the world against the global jihad" and to name the Bondi attack explicitly as "a jihad on the Jews" – something he said the Australian Prime Minister has failed to do.
Turning to his own country, Rabbi Goldstein placed the South African government "on notice," highlighting its ties to Iran, which Australian authorities have linked to prior attacks on Jewish targets, and its silence on jihadist violence across Africa. "If any terror attack, God forbid, happens in South Africa, we will hold you personally responsible," he warned, stressing that protecting citizens is the government's "first and most sacred duty."
Amid the Hanukkah season, Goldstein invoked the Maccabees' fight for religious freedom, affirming Jewish resilience: "We are an ancient people... As Jews, we have never been and will never be intimidated... With God's help, we will overcome the darkness."
He closed by offering solidarity for Australia's Jewish community: "As South African Jews, we stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our brothers and sisters of the Australian Jewish community at this terrible time... May Hashem bring healing to the injured and comfort to the families of those murdered."
