Inquiry says Jewish security group warned police before Bondi Hanukkah attack

An Australian royal commission said police were warned days before the December 2025 Bondi Beach Hanukkah attack that the threat to the New South Wales Jewish community had intensified, adding new scrutiny to how authorities responded before two gunmen killed 15 people at the celebration.

The Details

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion said in an interim report tabled on April 30 that it examined the antisemitic Bondi terrorist attack of Dec. 14, 2025. Reporting by ABC News Australia and Channel NewsAsia, citing the inquiry, said Community Security Group NSW sent police a warning on Dec. 8 about a heightened threat environment and asked for police assistance across planned Hanukkah gatherings, including the Chanukah by the Sea event at Bondi Beach.

Channel NewsAsia reported that the warning quoted by the inquiry said, "A terrorist attack against the NSW Jewish Community is likely and there is a high level of antisemitic vilification." The same report said the inquiry concluded Australia's Jewish community was the evident target of the attack.

According to ABC's account of the commission's findings, police told the Jewish security group they could not provide static resources for the Bondi event and instead would rely on mobile patrols to check in and monitor the gathering. ABC also reported that officers assigned to the event were later told in an email sent three days before the attack that there was no need to remain for the full duration, even though their presence would help the community feel safe.

Those findings drew a public response from state leaders and police. Channel NewsAsia reported that NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon said, "There were police present on that occasion, there had been a risk assessment, and there were certainly roving police throughout the area on that evening." NSW Premier Chris Minns, also quoted by Channel NewsAsia, said, "If we had known what was going to happen, we would have put an army down there."

The commission's account and the police response leave an unresolved point over the pre-event assessment process. ABC's summary of the report said NSW Police did not produce a written risk assessment for the event, while Lanyon said there had been a risk assessment and roving officers on the night. Based on the reporting in the fact brief, the difference may reflect a dispute over whether there was a formal written assessment or an operational assessment, but the inquiry reporting cited by ABC raised questions about the documented preparation for the event.

Context

The Bondi Beach attack took place during one of three significant Hanukkah celebrations being held that night in Sydney's eastern suburbs, according to ABC. The royal commission's interim report contains 14 recommendations, though some national security-related sections were redacted from the public version.

The report adds to wider scrutiny of how authorities assessed threats against Jewish communities during a period of intense antisemitic vilification. The Sydney Morning Herald's editorial board separately described the police response to the Jewish community's safety concerns before the attack as muted, echoing the broader criticism now captured in the inquiry's interim findings.

The New York Times and other outlets were among the organizations that reported on the interim findings as the commission's work moved into a new phase. But the commission itself remains the core public record for the inquiry, with broadcasters ABC and Channel NewsAsia supplying the key reporting in the fact brief on the warning sent before the attack and the police response that followed.

What's Next

The commission's interim report is now part of the public record, and its recommendations are likely to shape further debate over police preparedness, intelligence sharing and protections for Jewish communal events in Australia. The unresolved question over the reported risk assessment is also likely to remain central as officials and the public weigh the inquiry's criticism against the police commissioner's account.

For now, the most immediate development is the publication of the interim findings themselves: they place the Dec. 8 warning from Community Security Group NSW, the police deployment decisions described by ABC, and the competing accounts of pre-event assessment at the center of the next stage of scrutiny.