Bondi Beach terror attack: Ex-PMs, Israeli minister slam Anthony Albanese over rising anti-Semitism
Israeli diaspora affairs minister Amichai Chikli says slogans shouted in a massive pro-Palestinian march on Sydney Harbour Bridge fomented a climate that led to a massacre on Chanukah, criticising Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
At a memorial dedicated to the victims of the Bondi beach terror attack where 15 people were killed by father-and-son gunmen on Sunday, Mr Chikli said it was not a surprising turn of events.
“The writing was on the wall in big letters, the warning signs had been flashing for the past two years,” he told a congregation of Jewish-Australians at Chabad Bondi on late Wednesday.
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By continuing you agree to our Terms and Privacy Policy.He particularly took aim at phrases such as “Globalise the Intifada” and “From the River to Sea”.
Mr Chikli also claimed the presence of Palestinian flags on the bridge alongside Islamic State and Hamas flags, which have been outlawed, were problematic symbols.
“We’ve heard zero condemnation from the (Australian) Prime Minister ... on the contrary what we’ve seen is a recognition of a Palestinian state,” Mr Chikli said.
“It (Bondi beach) was a horrific terror attack but it was well predicted ... that’s a direct result of statements on Sydney’s (Harbour) Bridge and previous assaults.”
The Israeli minister said Mr Albanese had shied from naming extremist Islamist terrorist as the cause for the atrocity and was cowering behind gun reforms instead.
“The problem is the ideology not the weapons ... it’s time to wake up,” he said.
NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon has previously said officers found two home-made Islamic State flags in a car, registered to 24-year-old Naveed Akram who was charged with 59 offences on Wednesday.
His father 50-year-old Sajid was killed in a shootout with police officers.
Early indications pointed to a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State, NSW Police said.
Self-avowed Christian Evangelical former prime minister Scott Morrison said it was disheartening that Holocaust survivors and their descendants who found safety in Australia after World War II were contemplating leaving.
He also took a similar position accusing the Albanese Government of “turning a blind-eye” to anti-Semitic attacks in the last two years.
“The weapon last Sunday was anti-Semitism and that’s what has to be disarmed in that country,” he told AAP.
“That must stop now. They left the door open.”
Former prime minister Tony Abbott blamed the Albanese Government for pandering to large Muslim communities stopping short of naming them and leftist ideas infiltrating institutions.
“I’m here in anger that the soul of our nation has been stained by this dreadful atrocity,” he said.
