Commission hears Bondi Hanukkah event given lowest security priority, only 4 cops on site

A senior lawyer tells the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion that only four police officers were at the Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in December when two terrorists opened fire on a crowd of around 1,000 people.

The comments come during public hearings in the wide-ranging inquiry known as a ​Royal Commission that focus on the events leading up to last December’s Bondi attack, in which 15 people were killed when gunmen targeted the Jewish community at a Hanukkah celebration.

Within 29 seconds of the start of the shooting, 10 people had been fatally shot and an 11th had been wounded, says Richard Lancaster, Senior Counsel Assisting the Royal Commission.

Within five minutes, 11 police officers were at the scene. Three of those officers were wounded, he says.

A Jewish security organization, the Community Security Group, had requested the New South Wales Police Force post officers at the beachfront park for the duration of the Hanukkah event, Lancaster says.

Instead, officers were instructed to attend from time to time.

Police gave the Hanukkah celebration the lowest security priority on a three-tier scale, with police resources managed by a local commander, Lancaster says.

Jewish High Holy Days in September and October were top-tier events in which police resources were managed by the specialized Police Force Major Events Group in liaison with the paramilitary Police Force Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Command.

“There is no evidence that any intelligence agency or law enforcement agency had any actual knowledge or specific information to suggest there might be an armed attack on the Hanukkah celebration,” Lancaster says.

“In that sense, it was a surprise attack,” he adds.