"Police Cannot Guarantee Safety:" Iconic Jewish Bakery in Sydney Closes

Avner’s, a Jewish-owned bagel bakery in Sydney, has closed effective immediately after escalating antisemitic threats and warnings that the business had become a potential target for violence.

The closure follows the Bondi Beach Pogrom and years of sustained harassment directed at the bakery and its owners. According to the owner, TV chef Ed Almagor, police and security agencies advised that the shop could no longer be considered safe, warning that it was at risk precisely because it was visibly and publicly Jewish.

In a message shared with the community, the owners announced the closure “to make sense of the awful and mindless violence,” explaining that the safety and wellbeing of their families, staff, and customers could no longer be guaranteed. They added that they needed time to process what had happened and to determine whether security could ever realistically be ensured.

“Our hearts are broken, but full of love,” the statement read, expressing solidarity with families and friends who had lost loved ones in recent attacks.

The decision comes after years of intimidation, but the recent violence was described as the tipping point.

The fears are not abstract. In October 2024, Avner Bakery’s Surry Hills shop was defaced with antisemitic graffiti. The word “Beware” and an inverted red triangle were spray-painted on the shop’s window, and a threatening note reading “Be careful” was shoved under the door.

Almagor publicly shared the incident at the time, writing: “Being Jewish in Sydney, 2024 edition,” highlighting growing concern within Australia’s Jewish community over increasingly explicit threats and intimidation.

For Avner’s, the combination of past harassment, recent graffiti and threats, and the deadly attack during Chanukah made continuing to operate untenable. The bakery’s closure reflects a broader reality faced by Jewish businesses being forced to choose between public Jewish identity and personal safety.

A bagel shop closing out of fear of being murdered should not be a footnote. It is the story.