‘Promise to Jewish community has been broken’
'Australia is a country that Holocaust survivors came to as a place of safety, and it shatters my heart that today, the generations that have followed them now consider fleeing'
The promise of Australia to the Jewish community has been broken, former prime minister Scott Morrison declared at a memorial event following the Bondi Beach terror attack.
Speaking at the “Light against terror: Chanukah Massacre Memorial” event hosted by the Australian Jewish Association (AJA) at Chabad of Bondi last Wednesday evening, Morrison said the attack was the culmination of years of an environment that allowed antisemitism to take root in Australia.
“The promise of Australia to the Australian Jewish community has been broken,” Morrison said.
“I don’t say that as a political statement. I say as a statement of fact. It has been broken to you, and the extremist Islamic terrorist attack that took place last Sunday was the culmination of years of an environment that had been created in this country, which, if not wittingly or intentionally, created a climate in which antisemitism in this country put down roots and grew and led to what we saw last Sunday.”
Morrison said Australia had promised the Jewish community they could live safely and prosperously, enjoying their lives, families and communities without fear.
“Australia is a country that Holocaust survivors came to as a place of safety, and it shatters my heart that today, the generations that have followed them now consider fleeing this place of safety for another. It breaks my heart,” he said.
Morrison said antisemitism had accelerated most greatly after the October 7, 2023 attacks in Israel.
“On each and every test that came after that, the test was failed and it grew and it grew and it grew and now it has killed, and it has massacred and it has robbed families of their loved ones. It has robbed this community of its rabbi, it has robbed our country of its honour,” he said.
“It has desecrated everything we love and hold to be true about our country. And so we are shattered.”
Former prime minister Tony Abbott said he was at the event in grief with those killed and wounded, in solidarity with the Australian Jewish community, and in anger that the soul of the nation had been stained.
“I’ve never been able to understand antisemitism because it seems to me that Jewish people, pound for pound, are as capable, as creative and as resilient as any on Earth,” Abbott said.
“You would not have survived through three millennia plus of oppression and persecution, were you not a truly remarkable group of people and a blessing to the earth.”
Abbott said it grieved him that over the past two years, Jewish people had come to feel unsafe and unwelcome as Australia had “incubated this dreadful cancer of dual hatred in our midst”.
He urged Jewish people not to leave Australia.
“I hope none of you will leave us. I am sure that those who stay will continue to flourish, because I know that Australia is better than this, and it’s our duty to make it so,” he said.
Israeli diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli, who travelled to Australia immediately after hearing about the attack, gave the keynote address at the event.
In an interview afterwards, he said Israel understood quickly that this was a major event on another scale to anything Australia had previously witnessed.
“Australia was so quiet and peaceful, and we never heard about antisemitism in Australia or terror in Australia before October 7. But since October 7, we heard more and more about the incidents that became more and more violent,” Chikli told The AJN.
Chikli said he was waiting to hear serious condemnations and actions following protests where ISIS, al-Qaeda, Hamas and Palestinian flags were displayed and slogans including “gas the Jews” and “globalise the Intifada” were chanted.
“Unfortunately, nothing serious has been done. No serious condemnations were being said regarding the incitement statements, and as a result, I think we have arrived to the point in which the words became actions and killing,” he said.
“This is a horrific terror attack, but it surprised none of us, unfortunately.”
Chikli praised the bravery of those who fought the terrorists, including Ahmad El Ahmed, Reuven Morrison, and Boris and Sophia Gurman.
“I think this community needs to be very, very proud of these people, their spirit, their courage,” he said.
Chikli also praised non-Jewish Australians who stood with the Jewish community.
“I’ve been twice to Bondi Beach, and there were so many people outside of the Jewish community, Australians who came to stand with a fellow citizen from the Jewish community, and that was something which is, to me, was very powerful,” he said.
Chabad of Bondi spiritual leader Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who lost his son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger in the attack, also addressed the event. During Chikli’s speech, Rabbi Ulman briefly left the shule to take a phone call from Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
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