{"id":90740,"date":"2025-12-14T08:46:53","date_gmt":"2025-12-14T13:46:53","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/?p=90740"},"modified":"2025-12-14T16:07:13","modified_gmt":"2025-12-14T21:07:13","slug":"12-killed-in-sydney-beachside-chanukah-event-shooting","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/12-killed-in-sydney-beachside-chanukah-event-shooting\/","title":{"rendered":"12 killed in Sydney beachside Chanukah event shooting"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>By AKIVA VAN KONIGSVELD&nbsp;<\/p>\n<div class=\"article-meta-str\">(<em><span class=\"light-weight-content\">JNS.org<\/span><\/em><span class=\"light-weight-content\">) \u2013 At least 12<\/span> people were killed and 29 injured in a terrorist shooting that targeted a Chanukah party on Bondi Beach in Sydney\u2019s eastern suburbs on Sunday afternoon, according to Australian authorities.<\/div>\n<div id=\"attachment_90741\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90741\" class=\"wp-image-90741 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-300x183.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-768x469.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach.jpg 1007w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/183;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90741\" class=\"wp-image-90741 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-300x183.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"183\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-300x183.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach-768x469.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_Beach.jpg 1007w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90741\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Emergency responders on the scene of the terrorist attack at the &#8220;Chanukah by the Sea&#8221; on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. (Photo via X)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The attack involved two gunmen, one of whom is believed to be among the fatalities, according to a New South Wales Police statement. Two policemen area among the dead and the second shooter sustained critical injuries, it added.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Shortly after the shooting occurred, police located a vehicle nearby which they believe contained several improvised explosive devices. Bomb disposal units worked to neutralize the devices, police said.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The terrorist attack took place at the &#8220;Chanukah by the Sea&#8221; celebration attended by thousands of people and organized by the Chabad-Lubavitch Center there for decades, according to Rabbi Motti Seligson, the spokesman for Chabad and confirmed by Amichai Chikli, Israel\u2019s minister of diaspora affairs and combating antisemitism.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI am in continuous contact with leaders of the Jewish community in Australia,\u201d stated Chikli. \u201cThere are many casualties, including fatalities. I will provide updates as soon as additional details become available.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">According to Rabbi Seligson, one of the organization\u2019s rabbis was among those murdered. The slain rabbi was identified as Eli Schlanger, a U.K.-born Chabad emissary in Sydney and the son-in-law of Rabbi Yehoram and Shternie Ulman, who direct the Chabad of Bondi Center there.<\/p>\n<p>Rabbi Schlanger had been married to his wife Chaya for 18 years, and the two recently welcomed a new baby just a month ago.<\/p>\n<p>The two gunmen began shooting sometime after the event began at 5:45 p.m. local time and, according to witnesses had time to reload and begin shooting again.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_90742\" style=\"width: 1034px\" class=\"wp-caption aligncenter\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90742\" class=\"wp-image-90742 size-large lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-1024x654.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"654\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-1024x654.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-768x490.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 1024px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 1024\/654;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90742\" class=\"wp-image-90742 size-large\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-1024x654.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"1024\" height=\"654\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-1024x654.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-300x192.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter-768x490.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_shooter.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1024px) 100vw, 1024px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90742\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">An middle-aged man (in white shirt) identified as Ahmed al-Ahmed strips the long rifle from one of two alleged terrorist shooters at Bondi Beach. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p>Shortly after that, one middle-aged unidentified man charged one of the shooters with a rifle, stripped the terrorist of his weapon and kept him at bay until he joined his fellow shooter on a nearby bridge, where both were neutralized.&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Australian Prime Minister Antony Albanese told a press conference following the attack, \u201cThis afternoon, there has been a devastating terrorist incident at Bondi at the Chanukah by the Sea celebration.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cThis is a targeted attack on Jewish Australians on the first day of Chanukah\u2014which should be a day of joy, a celebration of faith,\u201d continued the premier.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cAn act of evil antisemitism, terrorism, that has struck the heart of our nation,\u201d he said. \u201cAn attack on Jewish Australians is an attack on every Australian.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, told Sydney radio station&nbsp;<em>2GB<\/em>&nbsp;that the group\u2019s director of media was injured in the attack, which he called \u201cdeliberate and very targeted.<\/p>\n<div id=\"attachment_90743\" style=\"width: 310px\" class=\"wp-caption alignleft\"><a href=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners.jpg\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90743\" class=\"wp-image-90743 size-medium lazyload\" data-src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" data-srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-1024x648.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-768x486.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners.jpg 1200w\" data-sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" style=\"--smush-placeholder-width: 300px; --smush-placeholder-aspect-ratio: 300\/190;\" \/><noscript><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" aria-describedby=\"caption-attachment-90743\" class=\"wp-image-90743 size-medium\" src=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-300x190.jpg\" alt=\"\" width=\"300\" height=\"190\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-300x190.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-1024x648.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners-768x486.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/Bondi_runners.jpg 1200w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px\" \/><\/noscript><\/a><\/p>\n<p id=\"caption-attachment-90743\" class=\"wp-caption-text\">Hundreds of people on Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia run from the scene of a terrortist shooting event at the &#8220;Chanukah by the Sea&#8221; event sponsored by Chabad of Bondi. (Screenshot)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cHundreds of people were gathered. It\u2019s a family event,\u201d he said. \u201cThey heard, like, dozens of popping sounds. And people just started running, running over barricades, grabbing their children. It was mayhem.\u201d<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">New South Wales state opposition leader Kellie Sloane, who was at the beach, called the shooting a \u201chorrific attack on our way of life, a very targeted attack on our Jewish community,\u201d speaking with&nbsp;<em>Sky News<\/em>.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">\u201cI was there when the shooting was still happening, and there was so many people. We were trying to we were trying to support people, we were trying to save people,\u201d Sloane told the news outlet.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Four months ago, Israeli Prime Minister&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.jns.org\/netanyahu-calls-on-aussie-pm-to-combat-tsunami-of-jew-hatred\/\">Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a>&nbsp;urged Albanese to confront what he called a \u201ctsunami of antisemitism\u201d that had spread in Australia since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, massacre.<\/p>\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&nbsp;Netanyahu also slammed the decision by his Australian counterpart to recognize a Palestinian state while the Jewish state was still fighting \u201ca war on behalf of Western civilization\u201d as a \u201csign of weakness.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><em>CCJN editor Alan Smason contributed to this story.<\/em><\/p>\n<div style=\"padding-bottom:20px; padding-top:10px;\" class=\"hupso-share-buttons\"><!-- Hupso Share Buttons - https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/ --><a class=\"hupso_toolbar\" href=\"https:\/\/www.hupso.com\/share\/\"><img decoding=\"async\" data-src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\" src=\"data:image\/gif;base64,R0lGODlhAQABAAAAACH5BAEKAAEALAAAAAABAAEAAAICTAEAOw==\" class=\"lazyload\" \/><noscript><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/buttons\/share-medium.png\" style=\"border:0px; padding-top: 5px; float:left;\" alt=\"Share Button\"\/><\/noscript><\/a><script type=\"text\/javascript\">var hupso_services_t=new Array(\"Twitter\",\"Facebook\",\"Google Plus\",\"Pinterest\",\"Linkedin\",\"Tumblr\",\"Email\");var hupso_background_t=\"#EAF4FF\";var hupso_border_t=\"#66CCFF\";var hupso_toolbar_size_t=\"medium\";var hupso_image_folder_url = \"\";var hupso_url_t=\"\";var hupso_title_t=\"12%20killed%20in%20Sydney%20beachside%20Chanukah%20event%20shooting\";<\/script><script type=\"text\/javascript\" src=\"https:\/\/static.hupso.com\/share\/js\/share_toolbar.js\"><\/script><!-- Hupso Share Buttons --><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":90741,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"ngg_post_thumbnail":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[14934,444,14933,8790,8795,8788,14932],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90740"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90740"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90740\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90772,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90740\/revisions\/90772"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90741"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90740"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90740"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.crescentcityjewishnews.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90740"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}