5
#000000
#FFFFFF
Health workers move a man on a stretcher to an ambulance after a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia on December 14, 2025.
(Photo by Saeed Khan/AFP via Getty Images)
'Depraved Response to a Depraved Act': Netanyahu Blames Attack on Australia Recognizing Palestine
"This is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people," said an American congressional candidate and school shooting survivor.
Dec 14, 2025
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swiftly criticized around the world on Sunday for trying to connect a deadly shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney to the Australian government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August, after Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the decision, which followed similar moves from Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, amid Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has been widely condemned as genocide.
As Netanyahu noted, he wrote to Albanese: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets."
The Israeli leader shared a video and transcript of his commentary on the social media platform X, where Jasper Nathaniel, who reports on the illegally occupied West Bank, called it a "depraved response to a depraved act."
"Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror," Nathaniel added in a separate thread. "Just like massacring unarmed men, women, and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-Palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians."
Electronic Intifada director Ali Abunimah said, "Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does."
Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, declared: "This is absurd. Calling to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and Palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future."
Cameron Kasky, who survived the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and is now running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, also blasted Netanyahu over his comments, saying that "this is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people."
The death toll in Australia has risen to 16, including one of at least two gunmen, and dozens more people were injured in the attack. A bystander who wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters has been identified by Australian media as Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner and father. His cousin said that he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
Even Netanyahu recognized that in Australia, "we saw an action of a brave man—turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him—that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews," but the Israeli leader then doubled down on what he called Albanese's "weakness."
Responding to Netanyahu, Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, said that "blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence."
"If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you're not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people," Rad also said. "It's not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others."
An Urgent Message From Our Co-Founder
Dear Common Dreams reader, The U.S. is on a fast track to authoritarianism like nothing I've ever seen. Meanwhile, corporate news outlets are utterly capitulating to Trump, twisting their coverage to avoid drawing his ire while lining up to stuff cash in his pockets. That's why I believe that Common Dreams is doing the best and most consequential reporting that we've ever done. Our small but mighty team is a progressive reporting powerhouse, covering the news every day that the corporate media never will. Our mission has always been simple: To inform. To inspire. And to ignite change for the common good. Now here's the key piece that I want all our readers to understand: None of this would be possible without your financial support. That's not just some fundraising cliche. It's the absolute and literal truth. We don't accept corporate advertising and never will. We don't have a paywall because we don't think people should be blocked from critical news based on their ability to pay. Everything we do is funded by the donations of readers like you. Will you donate now to help power the nonprofit, independent reporting of Common Dreams? Thank you for being a vital member of our community. Together, we can keep independent journalism alive when it’s needed most. - Craig Brown, Co-founder |
Our work is licensed under Creative Commons (CC BY-NC-ND 3.0). Feel free to republish and share widely.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swiftly criticized around the world on Sunday for trying to connect a deadly shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney to the Australian government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August, after Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the decision, which followed similar moves from Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, amid Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has been widely condemned as genocide.
As Netanyahu noted, he wrote to Albanese: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets."
The Israeli leader shared a video and transcript of his commentary on the social media platform X, where Jasper Nathaniel, who reports on the illegally occupied West Bank, called it a "depraved response to a depraved act."
"Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror," Nathaniel added in a separate thread. "Just like massacring unarmed men, women, and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-Palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians."
Electronic Intifada director Ali Abunimah said, "Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does."
Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, declared: "This is absurd. Calling to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and Palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future."
Cameron Kasky, who survived the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and is now running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, also blasted Netanyahu over his comments, saying that "this is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people."
The death toll in Australia has risen to 16, including one of at least two gunmen, and dozens more people were injured in the attack. A bystander who wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters has been identified by Australian media as Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner and father. His cousin said that he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
Even Netanyahu recognized that in Australia, "we saw an action of a brave man—turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him—that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews," but the Israeli leader then doubled down on what he called Albanese's "weakness."
Responding to Netanyahu, Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, said that "blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence."
"If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you're not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people," Rad also said. "It's not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others."
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was swiftly criticized around the world on Sunday for trying to connect a deadly shooting that targeted a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney to the Australian government's decision to recognize Palestinian statehood.
Netanyahu referenced a letter he sent to Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in August, after Albanese and Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong announced the decision, which followed similar moves from Canada, France, and the United Kingdom, amid Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip, which has been widely condemned as genocide.
As Netanyahu noted, he wrote to Albanese: "Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets."
The Israeli leader shared a video and transcript of his commentary on the social media platform X, where Jasper Nathaniel, who reports on the illegally occupied West Bank, called it a "depraved response to a depraved act."
"Obviously massacring unarmed men, women, and children at a Hanukkah celebration is antisemitic terror," Nathaniel added in a separate thread. "Just like massacring unarmed men, women, and children in Gaza and the West Bank is anti-Palestinian terror. There are no moral exceptions regarding the slaughter of civilians."
Electronic Intifada director Ali Abunimah said, "Basically Netanyahu is saying that Australia got what it had coming for not supporting his genocide in Gaza even more than it already does."
Avi Meyerstein, founder of the Washington, DC-based Alliance for Middle East Peace, declared: "This is absurd. Calling to resolve the Israeli-Palestinian conflict with peace, security, and self-determination for all, recognizing Israel and Palestine both, is a call to reduce the flames and put everyone on a path toward a better future."
Cameron Kasky, who survived the 2018 mass shooting at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School in Parkland, Florida and is now running for Congress as a Democrat in New York, also blasted Netanyahu over his comments, saying that "this is an atrocious downplaying of real antisemitism at a time when rampant Jew hatred is killing people."
The death toll in Australia has risen to 16, including one of at least two gunmen, and dozens more people were injured in the attack. A bystander who wrestled a gun away from one of the shooters has been identified by Australian media as Ahmed al Ahmed, a 43-year-old fruit shop owner and father. His cousin said that he was shot twice and had to get surgery.
Even Netanyahu recognized that in Australia, "we saw an action of a brave man—turns out a Muslim brave man, and I salute him—that stopped one of these terrorists from killing innocent Jews," but the Israeli leader then doubled down on what he called Albanese's "weakness."
Responding to Netanyahu, Assal Rad, a fellow at the Arab Center Washington, DC, said that "blaming Palestinian statehood, while committing genocide against them, is just another reminder that you want to erase Palestinians from existence."
"If you condemn the horrific, antisemitic attack in Bondi Beach while still defending genocide in Gaza, you're not actually outraged by the killing of innocent people," Rad also said. "It's not hard to condemn both, unless you think some lives are more valuable than others."
We've had enough. The 1% own and operate the corporate media. They are doing everything they can to defend the status quo, squash dissent and protect the wealthy and the powerful. The Common Dreams media model is different. We cover the news that matters to the 99%. Our mission? To inform. To inspire. To ignite change for the common good. How? Nonprofit. Independent. Reader-supported. Free to read. Free to republish. Free to share. With no advertising. No paywalls. No selling of your data. Thousands of small donations fund our newsroom and allow us to continue publishing. Can you chip in? We can't do it without you. Thank you.