Murdered Chabad rabbi wrote to Australian PM weeks ago – report

Zev Stub is the Times of Israel's Diaspora Affairs correspondent.

Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered in the terror attack at a Hanukkah party at Bondi Beach today, wrote a letter to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese several weeks ago asking him to support Israel, according to Channel 12.

“As a rabbi in Sydney, I beg you not to betray the Jewish people and not God Himself,” Schlanger wrote to Albanese, widely seen as a harsh critic of Israel, according to the report.

“Jews have been torn from their land again and again by leaders who are now remembered with contempt in the pages of history. You have an opportunity to stand on the side of truth and justice,” the letter reads.

“I congratulate you in advance for the courage to do what is right and stand firm against this act of heresy,” Schlanger concluded.

The assistant rabbi at Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, Schlanger was one of at least 11 killed in the terror attack. At least 13 were seriously injured.

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