Netanyahu Blasts Albanese After Sydney Hanukkah Massacre: Says His Policies ‘Pour Fuel on the Antisemitic Fire’

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Sunday the mass-casualty terrorist shooting that killed at least 11 people at a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney came after he warned left-wing Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese months ago that Canberra’s policies were “promoting and encouraging antisemitism.” He further charged that Australia “replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement” as Jewish blood was spilled.

Speaking at a government meeting in Dimona hours after the antisemitic terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Netanyahu said he sent Albanese a letter on August 17 warning that Australia’s decision to recognize a Palestinian state would intensify anti-Jewish violence.

“On August 17, about four months ago, I sent Prime Minister Albanese of Australia a letter in which I gave him warning that the Australian government’s policy was promoting and encouraging anti-Semitism in Australia,” Netanyahu said.

Quoting directly from that letter, Netanyahu said he warned Albanese: “Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the anti-Semitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorism. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets.”

“Anti-Semitism is a cancer,” Netanyahu continued. “It spreads when leaders stay silent. It retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve.”

Netanyahu said those warnings were ignored.

“Instead, Prime Minister, you replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement,” he said. “Your government did nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread, and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today.”

The Israeli prime minister described the Sydney mass shooting as the consequence of that failure, while highlighting an act of heroism during the attack.

“We saw an action of a brave man — turns out a Muslim brave man — and I salute him, that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews,” Netanyahu said. “But it requires the action of your government, which you are not taking, and you have to, because history will not forgive hesitation and weakness. It will honor action and strength.”

“That’s what Israel expects of each of your governments in the West and elsewhere,” he added, “because the disease spreads and it will consume you as well.”

Netanyahu said Israel would not respond to antisemitic terror with silence or restraint.

“We are worrying right now about our people, our safety, and we do not remain silent,” he said. “We fight those who try to annihilate us. They’re not only trying to annihilate us — they attack us because they attack the West.”

Drawing a direct line between global jihadist violence and Israel’s security doctrine, Netanyahu referenced recent attacks on U.S. forces in Syria and cited a warning issued by U.S. Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.

“He said, let it be known that if you target Americans anywhere in the world, you will spend the rest of your brief, anxious life knowing the United States will hunt you, find you, and ruthlessly kill you,” Netanyahu said. “We send our condolences to the people of America, and I want to say that our policy is exactly that.”

“That is American policy. This is Israel’s policy,” he said. “It’s our policy in Gaza, in Lebanon, anywhere around us. We do not sit by and let these killers kill us.”

Australian authorities have designated Sunday night’s Bondi Beach shooting a terrorist attack, after gunmen opened fire on families gathered for a “Hanukkah by the Sea” celebration attended by more than 1,000 people. At least 11 victims were murdered, dozens were wounded, and one of the terrorists was killed at the scene, as Breitbart News reported.

Prime Minister Albanese convened Australia’s National Security Committee and issued a video statement condemning the attack as “a targeted act of evil antisemitic terrorism” and pledging that his government would “eradicate it,” while praising police, first responders, and civilians who ran toward the gunfire to save lives.

Israeli leaders across the political spectrum said the massacre followed months of warnings about rising antisemitism in Australia after October 7, including attacks on synagogues, open chants glorifying violence against Jews, and repeated incidents targeting Jewish institutions.

Netanyahu’s August letter to Albanese warned that “history will not forgive hesitation,” a line he repeated Sunday as he accused Canberra of failing to act before the bloodshed.

“History will honor action and strength,” Netanyahu said. “And we will continue to fight.”