An Australian Jewish group has warned police of a possible terrorist attack just days before two gunmen killed 15 people in a mass shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney. A royal commission charged with investigating the incident concluded in an interim report that Australia must enhance security at Jewish events and review the structure of anti-terrorism teams.

Published on: 04/30/2026 - 09:15

An Australian Jewish group warned police of a possible Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, an investigation said Thursday.

Naveed Akram and his father Sajid are accused of opening fire on a Hanukkah celebration on Sydney's famous Bondi Beach in December. Sajid was shot dead by police during the attack that killed 15 people. Akram faces charges of terrorism and 15 counts of murder, in addition to dozens of charges of causing wounds with intent to kill, and planting explosives.

Read also: Australia launches investigation into anti-Semitism in connection with the Bondi Beach attack

“A terrorist attack against the Jewish community in New South Wales is likely, and there is a high level of anti-Semitic slander,” the community policing group wrote in an email published by the investigation. Police later said they could not provide dedicated officers, but would send mobile patrols to "monitor the event."

Failures

A royal commission charged with investigating the incident concluded in an interim report that Australia must enhance security at Jewish events and review the structure of anti-terrorism teams. She added that the Jewish community in Australia "was the clear target of the attack."

Retired judge Virginia Bell, who is leading the investigation, said police should consider stepping up security arrangements during Jewish celebrations "of a public nature."

The federal royal commission, the government's highest investigative body, was tasked with investigating everything related to the attack, from intelligence failures to the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia. The report concluded that Australia's counter-terrorism capabilities "could be improved".

Demands “answers and solutions”

The Bondi Beach mass shooting, the country's worst such incident in three decades, sparked a national debate about anti-Semitism, anger over the failure to protect Australian Jews from harm, and promises to tighten gun laws.

The victims' families wrote an open letter in December urging Albanese to "immediately establish a Commonwealth royal commission to investigate the rapid rise of anti-Semitism in Australia." “We demand answers and solutions,” they wrote.

For a period of time in 2019, Naveed was under the surveillance of Australian intelligence, but it stopped monitoring him after it considered that he did not pose an imminent danger.

Police documents showed that the defendants “trained in firearms” in rural New South Wales before the attack. It published pictures showing the two defendants shooting rifles and moving in a manner that the police described as “tactical.” It indicated that the defendants “planned the attack with extreme precision” over a period of months.

France 24/AFP

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