Israelis and Palestinians show support after Bondi

New Israel Fund (NIF) Australia executive director Kate Rosenberg has described receiving an outpouring of support from both Jewish Israelis and Palestinians after the Bondi Beach massacre.

But she’s also critical of statements made in Australia by Israel’s Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli as unhelpful and divisive.

Rosenberg was in Israel when news of the attack broke, creating what she described as an unsettling role reversal.

“I’m more used to hearing really shocking and difficult news come out of Israel and being away from there, so it was quite an unsettling feeling,” she said.

What followed was a wave of concern from across Israeli society.

“There was genuinely an outpouring of loving messages from Israelis and Palestinians, reaching out to check if I was okay, to check if my family was okay, and to express their concern,” Rosenberg said.

Asked whether there was any difference between how Jewish Israelis and Palestinians responded, Rosenberg said the reaction was uniform.

“It was really very much the same,” she said. “At New Israel Fund, we work with several Israeli civil society organisations that have co-directors, being Jewish Israelis and Palestinian citizens of Israel, and they reached out together in one voice to be sharing their condolences.”

However, she drew a sharp contrast with the political response from the Israeli government, particularly the visit to Australia by Diaspora Affairs Minister Amichai Chikli.

“He was essentially calling on the Australian government to play a more active role in suppressing any extremist thought. And at the same time, he had invited Tommy Robinson, a far-right fascist, to Israel.”

Rosenberg said she found the minister’s visit “really unhelpful in a moment of Australia’s pain”.

“The difference between Israel’s political response and civil society’s response in Israel was really stark. One was a message of hope and unity, which is what I think the Jewish community needed to hear right now; and one was a message of division and further stoking the fire of division.”

Despite the difficult circumstances, Rosenberg has urged Australian Jews to take heart from grassroots peace efforts in Israel and Palestine.