Netanyahu: Exploiting Bondi Beach Attack?

Let me be clear here, the attack on Bondi Beach by two Muslim killers with telescopic rifles on a Hannukkah or Festival of Lights gathering on Bondi Beach was evil. Jewish Australians had gathered on the famous beach to celebrate this religious festival, as is the right of every faith to celebrate its festivals. A father and son team with alleged links to the Islamic State took potshots as Jews dove for cover. A brave Muslim man, a former Syrian policeman, wrestled a gun off one of the attackers, the Father in this case. The attackers were a father and son team. Although some suspect a third man may have been involved. The Muslim man Ahmed al Ahmed is now in the hospital recovering from bullet wounds to his hand and arm.

In a broadcast from Israel, Netanyahu said the man who had tackled the elder gunman was a Jew. Later on, the Israeli Prime Minister corrected himself by saying the man who tackled the elder gunman was a Muslim, not a Jew. Did Netanyahu assume the rescuer was a Jew? Did it make Netanyahu choke when he had to correct himself that the rescuer was Muslim, not Jewish? Or was he glad that, regardless of faith, this man took on one of the gunmen?

Novara Media, an independent left-wing UK news outlet, has accused the Israeli leader of exploiting the Bondi Beach attack. Netanyahu said he warned the Australian Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, that such a thing would happen. And Albanese had done nothing to protect Australian Jews. And now this has happened, Netanyahu felt vindicated. But vindicated in a perverse way, as Novara Media suggested? Only Netanyahu himself knows his mindset and what motivates him.

The attackers, the father was shot dead, and the son is in custody. The question has been posed: have Israel's actions in Gaza made Jews sitting ducks around the world? Anti-Jewishness has always been with us, from Pogroms to the Holocaust. However, the actions of this far-right, Zionist government of Benjamin Netanyahu have endangered Jews, whether they are Zionist or not, open to verbal and physical attacks. 70,000 Gazans lie dead, and God knows how many lie under the rubble. Gaza has been reduced to rubble.

It was understandable that after Oct 7, when Hamas killed a 1000 some odd Jews and took many captive, Israel was going to attack. There is supposedly a ceasefire in place now, brokered by Trump. However, Israel continues to attack the Gazans in what they say are Hamas activities. Israel does the same in Lebanon, where a ceasefire with Hezbollah is supposedly in place.

In the Bondi Beach attack, 16 people died, and 42 were injured. Many Australians will be shocked by the fact that two men were able to get hold of rifles. Australia has clamped down on gun ownership because of past attacks, unlike the US. Australian police have recovered other weapons from the scene, like pipe bombs. Had these bombs gone off, the carnage could have been much worse. One would have thought that security guards or even the police would have been on hand, given that this was a Hanukkah gathering. So, given the rate of anti-Jewishness around the world now, because of what is happening in the Middle East, shouldn't the organisers on Bondi Beach have provided security? Or maybe it didn't figure in their thoughts? Does that then show naivety? Or did the organisers not think this would happen to them? Certainly, followers of all faiths have the right to gather without being attacked or harmed. But unfortunately, this is not the world that we live in.