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A senior New York rabbi has condemned Australia’s “inaction” after a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach was marred by a mass shooting that injured 40 and killed at least 15 people, including two prominent rabbis.
Rabbi Schmaya Krinsky of the Chabad-Lubavitch World Headquarters in New York City said the attack, carried out by a father and son, reflected a growing climate of anti-Semitism. in Australia which the authorities have not been able to confront.
“As for Rabbi Eli Schlanger, we have now learned that Chabad Rabbi Yaakov Levitan has succumbed to his injuries. May his memory also be a blessing,” Krinsky told Fox News Digital.
“Jews around the world right now are restless, but they are defiant,” he said. “Every incremental escalation of anti-Semitic language that is tolerated has a direct, and now, deadly consequence, and must no longer go unchecked.”
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Police cordon off an area of Bondi Beach after a terrorist attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney, Australia, on December 14, 2025. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)
“Australian authorities need to act swiftly and eliminate acts and rhetoric that normalize anti-Semitism,” Krinsky added.
On December 14, the tragic mass occurred when two gunmen opened fire on a large “Chanukah by the Sea” event. near Campbell Parade at Bondi Beach.
The attack, which was being investigated as a terrorist incident by police, included improvised explosive devices found in a suspect’s vehicle, as previously reported by Fox News Digital.
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A member of the Jewish community reacts as he walks with police towards the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
The elderly assailant was pronounced dead at the scene and his son was taken into custody in critical condition.
Krinsky, who was also in Melbourne in July when an arson attack on a synagogue took place at the East Melbourne Synagogue, said he had already seen the “discomfort” in Australia grow first-hand.
“I have witnessed first-hand the unease and concern of many in the Australian Jewish community amid the rise of anti-Semitic incitement, and their feeling that the response from the authorities was inadequate, he said.
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Rabbi Dovid Gutnick walks past the damage outside the East Melbourne Jewish Congregation in Melbourne, Saturday, July 5, 2025, after an arsonist set fire to the door. (James Ross/AAP Image via AP)
“At that point, there was a feeling that the Jewish community in Australia was increasingly uneasy with what they felt was the lack of a strong enough response to these acts.”
Schlanger, 41, who was one of the first dead victims to be identified, was an assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi and a beach event organizer.
Emergency workers carry a person on a stretcher after a reported shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Sunday, December 14, 2025. (Mark Baker/AP Photo)
“While each Chabad center operates independently, it functions under our global organization,” Krinsky explained. “There are no words to emphasize the anguish and distress caused by this heartbreaking tragedy.”
“Rabbi Schlanger was among the victims of this barbarism,” he added. “He had deep ties with the United States and he studied here, he has a family here and although the attack happened far away, this Hanukkah we feel it closer than ever.”
“He was younger than me, and we attended the same institutions of learning, although at different times,” Krinsky said. “He dedicated his life to living in communities around the world, far from home, inspired by the teachings and vision of the Rebbe.
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Armed police work on the scene after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025. Australian police said two people were in custody after reports of multiple gunshots on December 14 at Sydney’s popular Bondi Beach, urging the public to take shelter. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
UK-born Schlanger married Chaya, the daughter of prominent Australian Rabbi Yehoram Ulman.
“After their marriage, about 18 years ago, they moved to Sydney to help grow the community and bring the beauty and spirit of Jewish tradition to life for many in the Sydney Jewish community,” Krinsky explained. “He would have found a place to move to do the work to which he wanted to dedicate his life.”
As the world responded, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese condemned the attack as an “act of pure evil”, according to The Associated Press.
“We are devastated for the families who were celebrating the Festival of Lights at Bondi Beach,” Krinsky said.
A health worker moves a stretcher after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025. Australian police said two people were in custody after reports of multiple gunshots on December 14 at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach, urging the public to take shelter. (Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
“But every Chabad community around the world is already doing what we do best: spreading more light, strengthening Jewish pride and observance, and increasing acts of kindness and goodness.”
“The author may have wanted to dim the Hanukkah lights in Sydney – but they will burn even brighter across Australia and around the globe.”
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A statement released by Chabad Lubavitch Headquarters in New York said: “We are clear: this was an act of treacherous terror – an attack on community, on goodness and on light itself. It reflects a climate in which hatred of Jews has been allowed to grow and turn violent. This reality must be confronted.”
“We will honor the lives taken to strengthen it Jewish practicepride and visibility. May his light rise from this pain, and may his memory be a blessing to us all,” the statement read.
