Australia’s Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’

TABLET MAG
The People of Forever Are Not Afraid
Liel Leibovitz
December 14, 2025

Like so many Jews, I was woken up in the early morning today to news of the massacre in Bondi Beach, Australia. Like so many Jews, I personally knew people who were hurt in the attack. And like so many Jews, I grieved for the victims and raged as public officials who cheered on the policies that made the attack possible rushed to publish sanctimonious denunciations, as if they had failed to understand that the shooting was precisely what was meant by “Globalize the intifada.” But amid the profound sadness and the righteous indignation, one timeless truth mustn’t be forgotten: We Jews are going to be just fine. Attack us, as Hamas did Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and you’ll soon discover that Jewish blood is no longer cheap. For more details, kindly consult with Yahya Sinwar, Hassan Nasrallah, or the gentlemen in charge of Iran’s nuclear program. READ MORE

COMMENTARY Seth Mandel: Jews Are Fed Up...Let’s pause here to note that Australia is home to the highest concentration of Holocaust survivors outside of Israel—and that another of those Holocaust survivors was killed on Bondi Beach while shielding his wife from the haze of bullets….The anchors from Australia’s ABC asked Teplitsky how she’s feeling about everything. Teplitsky responded with a message for [Prime Minister] Albanese and the political establishment: “Is this what you wanted? Is this enough now? Will you listen to us? Albanese, [Labour parliamentary leader Penny] Wong, will you listen to us? Will you actually do something? Will you actually—no, you don’t have to stand up and say anything because we don’t believe you

FDD Could Have Been a Different Scenario’ Chris Minns, the Premier of the state of New South Wales (NSW) in Australia, is under fire over the reported lack of a significant police presence at the Hanukkah menorah lighting ceremony in Sydney in which 15 people were murdered and dozens wounded in an Islamist terror attack. Minns initially claimed that only two officers had been on duty at the Bondi Beach site, but in a later interview, he raised the number to three, alongside a further 20 officers in the wider area. “If the cops had put riot squad cars on the road near the bridge and in the beach car park — [it] could have been a very different scenario,” one of the wounded attendees said.

GATESTONE Australia’s Government: ‘Moral Bankruptcy on Parade’ At present, Australia has naïve policies that allow significant immigration of Islamists from war zones. Despite what the government claims, most of these immigrants do not intend to integrate, assimilate or contribute towards “social cohesion” – as the well-attended marches against Israel and Jews reveal. Many newcomers are ideological enemies of the Western democratic tradition and forthrightly plan to dominate open societies through imposition of Islamic Sharia law.

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“Violence began after inspector issuing parking ticket was attacked by two young men, apparently draft-dodgers, who threatened to ‘slaughter’ him; Rioters also attack bus with soldiers”

TIMES OF ISRAEL
13 cops hurt as ultra-Orthodox riot in Jerusalem; police use tear gas, arrest four
Charlie Summers and Sam Sokol
December 18, 2025

Hundreds of young Haredi men clashed with police in Jerusalem Thursday, injuring 13 officers and overturning a cruiser in a riot apparently sparked by an attempt to issue a parking ticket… The commotion broke out after a municipal inspector who had been issuing parking tickets in the capital came under attack from two young Haredi men, police said. The pair kicked him and made threats on his life, promising to “slaughter” him if he returned to the area. Police officers called to aid the inspector in distress arrested one of the assailants, angering locals. Hundreds then gathered around the officers in an attempt to free the detainee, and events quickly mushroomed into rioting. According to Hebrew outlets, officers had realized that the assailants were draft dodgers and sought to hand them over to the Military Police. READ MORE

X Video of the Haredim rioting

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“May the memories of Boris and Sofia Gurman be a blessing. And may Ahmed al Ahmad heal fully, knowing that Jewish history will remember his name with gratitude”

JEWISH JOURNAL
What Bondi Beach Taught Us About Courage — and Should Teach Us About Preparedness
Micha Danzig
December 16, 2025

…Boris Gurman was celebrating Hanukkah with his wife, Sofia, among hundreds of Jewish Australians and visitors who had gathered to light candles by the sea — an ancient ritual of Jewish continuity performed openly, peacefully, and in public. When the gunmen appeared, Boris did what generations of unarmed Jews have done when history suddenly demands courage: he moved toward the threat…But Boris was almost certainly not trained for combat. He did not — or could not — pull the trigger. In that moment, one of the terrorists shot him. He was mortally wounded, with his wife Sofia at his side, after the two of them had jointly attempted to stop the attack. READ MORE

NBC NEWS Video shows elderly couple trying to stop and disarm Bondi gunman The dashcam video shows a couple who were killed in the attack, identified by their family as Boris and Sofia Gurman, both in their 60s.

FRONT PAGE MAG Bondi Beach: ‘Never Again’ Was an Empty Phrase…For two years now, since Hamas launched its latest war, a wave of anti-Jewish hate has swept through the West. The warning signs have been flashing: in Australia, anti-Jewish incidents tripled in the year after the war began. Similar spikes have occurred across Europe and the USA. Swastikas on schools. Mobs chanting for intifada. Jewish students hiding their Stars of David. It has been escalating steadily. Now the inevitable has happened  again – the hate has turned murderous. We know precisely who helped create this atmosphere. I am looking at everyone who fed this beast. Every single one of them has blood on their hands. Everyone who spent two years spreading antisemitic blood libels straight from Hamas — blood on their hands. (They parroted every lie Hamas spewed, from fake “hospital massacres” to wild casualty figures. They stoked the flames that led directly to Bondi and beyond)

BAKING BUSINESS Avner’s Announces Closure. Sydney-based bakery Avner’s has announced its closure following almost two years of ongoing vandalism, intimidation and and antisemitic harassment. The Surry Hills bakery, which is owned and run by media personality and chef Ed Halmagyi, opened its doors in early 2024. In a note on the bakery’s doors the business announced its closure. “One thing has become clear after Sunday’s attack [at Bondi] – it’s no longer possible to make outwardly, publicly, proudly Jewish places and events safe in Australia,” the note read.

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US visa bans extended to “countries that have been subject to successful efforts to overthrow or undermine their governments, with the result that radical terrorist groups operate with minimal, if any, interference from law enforcement”

JNS
Trump adds Palestinian Authority, Syria to US visa restriction list
December 16, 2025

U.S. President Donald Trump imposed a new travel and immigration ban on Tuesday for anyone attempting to enter the United States with documents issued by the Palestinian Authority or Syria. The presidential proclamation expands the full and partial bans on 19 countries that was first issued in June to a longer list of 27 countries, mostly in Africa, and the Palestinian Authority. The U.S. secretary of state, attorney general, homeland security secretary and director of national intelligence determined that the countries in question and the Palestinian Authority “cannot meet basic criteria for identifying their nationals and residents who pose national security and public safety threats and for sharing information with the United States.” READ MORE

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“But the most dangerous phase of the war may unfold far from the battlefield. It will unfold in Washington, inside rooms where the real leverage of this conflict now sits”

FUTURE OF JEWISH
Israel faces its most important test since 1973. And it begins in Washington.
Guy Goldstein
December 12, 2025

…Qatar, Egypt, Turkey, Saudi Arabia, the United Arab Emirates, and Jordan have never been so coordinated. They have agreed, explicitly and implicitly, on one message: If the ceasefire stalls, if its second phase does not begin, if Gaza does not move toward the Arabs’ preferred governance model, the failure is not on them; the failure is on Israel, and Israel is understood to be America’s responsibility. In that framing, any breakdown becomes a political embarrassment for Washington and a personal humiliation for Trump, because the mediator is judged by whether he can deliver the party (Israel) seen as under his influence. Turkish officials have already warned that the deal will fail without strong U.S. pressure on Israel. This is not messaging; it is preparation. Of course, these states are not protecting Palestinians. READ MORE

JPOST Trump’s strategy exposes Netanyahu’s dangerous miscalculation  For years, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has cast US President Donald Trump as Israel’s greatest ally – a modern Cyrus who recognized Jerusalem, brokered the Abraham Accords, and stands unwavering against Iran. The Trump administration’s newly released National Security Strategy should shatter that comfortable narrative. Far from offering Israel a blank check, the document reveals a fundamental misalignment between Netanyahu’s approach and Trump’s vision for the Middle East – one that threatens to transform Israel from a favored partner into a regional obstacle. Two critical flash points expose this growing rift: Syria and the fate of the Palestinian nationalist movement. On both, Netanyahu’s government has adopted positions directly contrary to stated American interests, mistaking Trump’s past support for permanent indulgence.

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“The friendship between Jews and ordinary Iranians is alive and well, with Iranians taking to social media to express support for Israel after the Bondi attack. We must stand with them in turn”

JPOST
Fifty years of Islamic rule can’t erase 2,600 years of Jewish-Iranian friendship
Alex Winston
December 18, 2025

…It is essential to distinguish between Iran and the regime that has ruled it since 1979. The Islamic Republic is not the inheritor of Persian civilization; it is merely a brief interruption in a long chain of comradeship. Its hostility toward Jews and toward Israel is not rooted in Iran’s ancient history, culture, or collective memory. Rather, it stems from an Islamist extremist ideology enforced on the people. Today, in 2025, the friendship between Jews and ordinary Iranians is alive and well. It was telling that at the Bondi Beach vigil and hanukkiah lighting in London, one of the most prominent flags seen in the crowd was the Lion and Sun flag, the symbol of imperial Iran. It is a flag that has appeared time and time again at marches or gatherings showing support for Israel or Jewish communities post-October 7. READ MORE

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“Newly public footage shows Hersh and his fellow hostages lighting a menorah in captivity. It is a reminder that, even in the bleakest of circumstances, there is hope”

FREE PRESS
Rachel Goldberg-Polin: ‘I Saw Our Dead Son Suddenly Alive Again’
Rachel Goldberg-Polin
December 14, 2025

In July this year, my husband and I were contacted by the person from the Israeli intelligence services whose job it is to tell us bad news. That is his actual job. Each of the hostage families has such a person. It is an unfortunate role to be in charge of kicking people when they are still down from the last time they were kicked down. He has a nice face and seems like a decent person…Now, the man with the nice face called to say that they had recovered more than three hours of footage of Hersh and the other five hostages with whom he lived and was murdered in Gaza’s tunnels. READ MORE

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“Before his death, Kirk spoke of how his favorite trip was to Israel. Pastor McCoy believes that a major reason is that Kirk learned the importance of keeping the Sabbath”

CBN
‘Stop in the Name of God’: Charlie Kirk’s Final Book Honors ‘Transforming’ Sabbath
Paul Petitte
December 16, 2025

The impact of Charlie Kirk’s death from an assassin’s bullet continues to grow. We are also learning more about what profoundly changed him through his new book, and Stop in the Name of God: Why Honoring the Sabbath Will Transform Your Life…On his Turning Point USA podcast shortly before he died, Kirk declared, “If you are feeling overrun by society, might be feeling depressed or anxious, here is one way you might be able to improve: turn your phone off for one day – no content, no social media, no work. Your mental health will improve dramatically.” “So, he got it,” McCoy said, “And that inspired him. He just did a deep dive study, like he does with everything. And then, he wrote the book that is now being published posthumously. It was his, you know – magnum opus, so to speak. “Stop in the Name of God.” READ MORE

COMBAT ANTISEMITISM Calling Jew-Hatred ‘Brain Rot,’ Erika Kirk Vows to Take On Antisemitism On the Right Erika Kirk, CEO of Turning Point USA and widow of assassinated conservative activist Charlie Kirk, pledged to confront antisemitism on the political right in remarks broadcast this weekend. She specifically addressed Holocaust denial during a prime-time CBS News town hall moderated by editor-in-chief Bari Weiss…The conversation took a sharp turn after question from Bob Milgrim. Earlier this year, Milgrim lost his daughter, Sarah Lynn Milgrim, alongside her partner, Yaron Lischinsky.

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“Tikkun olam offered an irresistible proposition: take whatever good you’re doing for the world and call it Jewish”

FUTURE OF JEWISH
‘Tikkun Olam’ is not Jewish at all.
Joshua Hoffman
December 13, 2025

For most of Jewish history, Tikkun Olam did not mean what many Jews now casually think it means. It was not a feel-good injunction to “make the world better” through activism, nor was it a political slogan meant to mirror whatever the prevailing social-justice fashion demanded. Its earliest appearance in our tradition sits quietly in the Mishnah (the body of classical rabbinic teachings codified circa 200 CE), where the Sages use the phrase “mipnei tikkun ha-olam” to justify legal rulings that preserve social stability — clarifying divorce law, regulating debt, preventing injustices that could tear communities apart…These were not broad universalist missions but targeted, halakhic (Jewish law) repairs to prevent societal breakdown. READ MORE

JEWISH JOURNAL David Suissa: Instead of Expanding Judaism, Tikkun Olam May Have Diluted It  Compared to feeding the hungry or saving the planet, how important can it be to light Shabbat candles? That question and similar ones have been on my mind lately, as I’ve thought about tikkun olam, the movement to “repair the world.” For many years now, tikkun olam has become a driving spiritual force and an elevated Jewish value throughout much of the liberal wing of American Jewry. How could it not be? What can be more meaningful to one’s life than to repair a broken world? One question, however, that few people have asked is: Did tikkun olam become more attractive and meaningful than Judaism itself? Tikkun olam proponents respond by not distinguishing between the two: Fighting for social justice is Judaism. Everything socially worthy, in fact–  helping the marginalized, protecting migrants, assisting the homeless, dealing with climate change, defending democracy, etc.—can be lumped under “Jewish values.

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“The shocking examples given in the report are a harsh reminder of how deep and pervasive antisemitism is at Columbia University”

NEW YORK POST
Final Columbia University antisemitism report details disturbing examples of Jewish students being cruelly singled out
Chris Nesi and Carl Campanile
December 11, 2025

A Columbia University public health instructor ranted to 400 incoming students about how the school’s prominent Jewish donors only made their gifts to “launder blood money” and denied the existence of the Jewish state, according to a stunning antisemitism report released by the Ivy League school…“Few, if any, of the professors have been held accountable and the vast majority are teaching today. Tenure is not a free pass to violate students’ civil rights and real change will only come through accountability. Columbia clearly has a lot of work to do.” READ MORE

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