Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said that Australia had received “countless warning signs” before the deadly antisemitic attack at a Chanukah event in Sydney. Below is a non-exhaustive list of documented antisemitic incidents in Australia during 2024 and 2025, excluding the Bondi Beach shooting itself, illustrating the climate Sa’ar was referring to.
2025
- March 5, 2025 – Melbourne. Swastikas and antisemitic slogans were spray-painted on the exterior of a synagogue in Caulfield. Police opened a hate-crime investigation.
- April 18, 2025 – Sydney. A Jewish-owned business in Bondi was vandalized overnight, with windows smashed and “Free Palestine” graffitied across the storefront.
- May 9, 2025 – Melbourne University. Jewish students reported being blocked from entering a lecture hall by anti-Israel protesters who told them “Zionists aren’t welcome here.” The incident was reported to university security.
- June 21, 2025 – Brisbane. A Jewish man wearing a kippah was verbally abused and threatened on public transport. Queensland Police confirmed the incident as antisemitic harassment.
- August 14, 2025 – Sydney. Police arrested a suspect after antisemitic flyers praising Hamas were distributed in a predominantly Jewish neighborhood in the eastern suburbs.
2024
- January 12, 2024 – Sydney. A synagogue in the Inner West was defaced with red paint and the words “Globalise the Intifada.” CCTV footage was handed to police.
- February 2, 2024 – Melbourne. A Jewish school received an emailed death threat referencing October 7. The school closed for a day as a precaution.
- April 26, 2024 – Perth. An arson attack damaged the fence of a synagogue complex. Fire authorities confirmed the blaze was deliberately lit.
- June 3, 2024 – Sydney. Protesters outside the Israeli consulate chanted antisemitic slogans; at least one Jewish passerby was assaulted. No arrests were immediately made.
- October 7, 2024 – Nationwide. On the first anniversary of the Hamas attack, multiple antisemitic incidents were reported, including threats, vandalism, and harassment near Jewish institutions in Sydney and Melbourne.
According to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, 1,654 antisemitic incidents were recorded in the year ending October 2025, including assaults, threats, vandalism, and harassment. The majority occurred in New South Wales and Victoria.
It is this pattern — not a single event — that Israeli officials say formed the backdrop to the Bondi Beach attack.
