Iran’s chief rabbi condemns Bondi Beach attack amid suspicions of Iranian involvement

Amid reports that Australia is investigating whether the Iranian government may have been involved in yesterday’s terror attack at a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, the chief rabbi of Iran, Rabbi Yehuda Garami, has issued a letter of condemnation against the attack.

“With great pain and deep sorrow, I strongly condemn the recent crime and acts of terrorism and violence against the Jewish community in Australia on the holiday of Hanukkah,” Garami writes in a statement. “Any harm, incitement to hatred and violence against people – regardless of their religion, origin or nationality – is contrary against human, moral values ​​and the path of faith.”

Australia is said to be investigating whether the Sydney attack, which killed at least 15 and injured more than 40, was plotted by Iran. Israel’s Mossad notified Australian intelligence about a month ago that Iranian-backed terrorists in the country planned to carry out attacks on Jewish targets, according to Hebrew media reports.

Iran’s Jewish community occasionally issues anti-Israel statements that match the regime’s agenda. It is not necessarily believed that such statements actually reflect the community’s sentiments.

The statement by Garami follows a condemnation issued yesterday by Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Esmail Baqaei in a Persian-language post on X.

“We condemn the violent attack in Sydney, Australia,” Baqaei said, adding that “Terrorism and the killing of human beings, wherever it is carried out, is unacceptable and condemned.”

Iran is known to have organized terror attacks on Jewish communities worldwide.

In August, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese accused Iran of being behind a pair of 2024 antisemitic arson attacks in Australia, announcing that Canberra had expelled Tehran’s ambassador and would list the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps as a terror organization.