Standing Our Ground

There are few images more disturbing than Jews running for their lives. As the Bondi Beach terror attack unfolded, thousands could be seen fleeing the public Hanukkah celebration as shots rang out all around them. Their expressions of helplessness and fear left more of an impression than the footage of the shooters themselves gunning down as many as they could reach.

These visuals stir up fresh trauma for the Jewish community. The loss and pain of Oct. 7 is still present in all of our minds. The fact that Zaka needed to send a delegation to the site indicates the level of tragedy that occurred. Among the victims was an  Oct. 7 survivor who had relocated to Australia to escape rising antisemitism — only to be injured by the gunfire.

Watching such scenes and reading the responses that followed can leave one in utter despair. The Australian Prime Minister’s initial statement is a study in equivocation: “My thoughts are with every person affected.” Although he subsequently labeled the attack antisemitic, his initial refusal to name the motive spoke volumes. The terrorists opened fire on thousands of Jews at a Hanukkah event. Their intent couldn’t be clearer.

Even Iranian citizens have taken to social media with louder condemnation and more resounding support than Albanese. Many Iranians have chastised their own government as the main sponsor of global terror. And these individuals are speaking up against a totalitarian regime at the risk of death.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu minced no words in his statement about the Bondi attack. “Antisemitism spreads when leaders are silent,” he said. Albanese would feel, however, after his initial response, that he had not remained silent. He said something even if he ignored all the relevant details. PM Netanyahu went on to say that just as the United States will hunt down anyone who attacks U.S. citizens, so too will Israel. “It’s our policy in Gaza, in Lebanon, anywhere around us. We do not sit by and let these killers kill us.”

There are reasons the terrorists were able to fire freely for what felt like an eternity upon an unarmed group of Jews. The most pressing was the ineptitude of the police force on hand. Those whose job it was to protect the citizens froze in fear as the attack began. Eyewitnesses report that for an extended period, the perpetrators continued firing and reloading while the police failed to intervene.

The most notable moment in this tragic event was when a single bystander, Ahmed al Ahmed, took matters into his own hands. He can be seen charging one of the terrorists and prying the rifle from his hands. He was shot in the arm and hand in the process. Ahmed’s heroic action indisputably saved multiple lives and provides a glimmer of hope in this dark hour. He is deserving of the highest praise and reminds us that courage is not ethnic or national — it’s human.

In the aftermath, a meme has been circulating that reads: “Hanukkah’s Lights Are Sacred Protest in the Shadow of Bondi Beach.” While it is true that we can’t let evil such as this extinguish our Jewish practice, this sentiment lacks something. If our only response at this point is to double down and continue that which we already do, then we won’t root out the evil in our midst nor do what’s necessary to protect ourselves.

Just prior to the Bondi Beach massacre, my eldest daughter expressed a desire to live elsewhere than Israel. She fears, as many Israeli children do, that at any moment she could be the subject of a terror attack. When she expressed this concern I answered, as I have in the past, that these incidents happen all over the world. I feel that if the chips were ever down, Israel is the place I’d rather be when facing such horrors.

However, this was an insufficient reply. There’s an additional, much more relevant reason that I would choose to be in our homeland, despite its dangers. Israel is filled with people who would act as Ahmed did — but here it’s the norm, not the exception. Whether due to their army training or the constant realization of the current reality, Israelis are ready and willing to protect themselves and those around them. 

This is why I made aliyah — not because it’s safer but because the citizens take responsibility for each other. The model of the strong Jew, ready to stand up for his country and its right to exist is who I want to be and who I want my children to become. 

Yet, the lesson of Bondi Beach is that the obligation to protect ourselves now falls on every Jewish community, whether in the homeland or the diaspora. Ahmed showed what’s possible anywhere; in Israel, this courage is systematized — and diaspora communities must now cultivate the same readiness. 

I pray for the day that none of this will be necessary — when peace will reign over the whole world. But until that day comes, we must all, everywhere, choose to stand our ground and never to run.

Hayim Leiter is a rabbi, a wedding officiant, and a mohel who performs britot (ritual circumcisions) and conversions in Israel and worldwide. Based in Efrat, Israel, he is the founder of Magen HaBrit, an organization protecting the practice of brit milah and the children who undergo it.