In call to family of Bondi victim, PM blames terror attack on ‘lax’ Australian policies

Nava Freiberg is The Times of Israel's deputy diplomatic correspondent.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) speaks during a cabinet meeting in Dimona, December 14, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (center) speaks during a cabinet meeting in Dimona, December 14, 2025. (Amos Ben Gershom/GPO)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spoke by phone with the father-in-law of Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was among the 15 people murdered by two terrorists in the shooting targeting a Jewish event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, blaming the attack on what he described as the Australian government’s “lax policies” in combating antisemitism, the Prime Minister’s Office says in a statement.

Netanyahu “expressed his condolences” to Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, a Chabad emissary and head of the rabbinical court in Sydney, “and to all the bereaved families, and wished a full recovery to the wounded,” the PMO states. He also spoke with Arsen Ostrovsky, who was injured in the attack weeks after moving to Sydney to direct the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council office in the city, the PMO adds.

During the calls, the premier said “that these criminal acts are the result of rampant antisemitism in the face of lax policies by the country’s authorities and the Australian government, which is obligated to act immediately and use all available tools to eradicate terrorism and restore security to Jewish communities,” according to the readout.

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