Scrutiny Intensifies
Sydney Bloodbath Blunder: Only 2 Officers Were Guarding 1000 Jews at Chanukah Event When Terrorists Struck
Premier Chris Minns has confessed that only two police officers were guarding a crowd of 1,000 Jewish families when gunmen launched a deadly ten-minute massacre, raising urgent questions about a catastrophic security failure.
New South Wales Premier Chris Minns admitted Tuesday that just two police officers were stationed inside the park during the Chanukah celebration at Sydney's Bondi Beach when two terrorists unleashed gunfire, slaughtering 15 innocent Jews, including children and a Holocaust survivor, and wounding dozens more in Australia's deadliest terror attack. Speaking to Sky News Australia, Minns confirmed the minimal presence: "My understanding is that there were two in the park during or at the beginning of the shooting, the assassinations." The open-air "Chanukah by the Sea" event drew around 1,000 families for the first night of Hanukkah, turning a night of light and joy into ten minutes of unrelenting horror as the gunmen fired into the crowd, forcing parents, children, and elderly to scramble for cover in panic.
Minns noted additional officers were nearby, with a patrol car arriving swiftly, and praised their bravery: "We have several police officers that engaged with sidearms from 50 meters away, firing with someone who had a long-arm and a tactical advantage over NSW Police. They did engage and they did shoot both of the offenders, killing one of them." One terrorist was slain at the scene, the second critically wounded and hospitalized. Yet Minns acknowledged scrutiny over deployment, including positions of backup units, as questions mount over how such a high-profile Jewish gathering, amid skyrocketing antisemitic threats, was protected by so few on-site officers, allowing the carnage to rage unchecked for precious minutes.
This shocking reality exposes Australia's unpreparedness for attacks on its Jewish citizens, despite repeated warnings of rising Jew-hatred that authorities failed to heed seriously. Antisemitism could escalate to violence, yet lax policies and insufficient security at events like this Hanukkah gathering enabled the bloodshed, with inadequate forces unable to prevent or swiftly halt the slaughter. Australia's political stance, pushing Palestinian state recognition and arms curbs on Israel while downplaying pro-Hamas rallies chanting "gas the Jews", has emboldened extremists, creating a climate where terrorists strike with impunity. The minimal policing reflects a broader blind eye to the epidemic, ignoring Israel's pleas and domestic alerts that hatred, fueled by Hamas propaganda, would erupt into murder.
As funerals begin for victims like Rabbi Eli Schlanger, a beloved organizer, and a 10-year-old girl, the tragedy underscores a heartbreaking failure: governments that appease antisemitism invite terror, leaving Jewish families to pay the ultimate price during their holiest moments.