UK (Parliament Politics Magazine) – Chief Rabbi called for tougher enforcement of hate speech laws after the Bondi Beach attack in Sydney, as ministers warned of a sharp rise in antisemitism.
As reported by The Standard’s Nicholas Cecil, Chief Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis has urged police to make more arrests for hate speech at pro-Gaza demonstrations, amid ministerial warnings of a rise in antisemitic incidents.
What did the Chief Rabbi say about the Bondi Beach attack and pro-Gaza protest slogans?
Rabbi Ephraim Mirvis said the Bondi Beach terror attack left him feeling “devastation but no surprise.”
He stressed,
“It’s the kind of thing that we knew was inevitable. We were praying, hoping it would never happen. But no surprise because of the tone on the streets in our societies, with the hatred that is being expressed to the Jewish state, to Jews and to Judaism and therefore what is happening around us is inspiring some people to translate hate speech into hate action.”
During an interview, when asked about his advice to the Government, the Chief Rabbi said,
“We have to crack down on hate speech in a far more forceful and emphatic way. Let’s take for example cries such as ‘from the river to the sea’ or ‘globalise the intifada’…what does ‘globalise the intifada mean’, it means what happened at Heaton Park synagogue in Manchester on Yom Kippur, it means what happened on Bondi Beach.”
He added,
“The time has come once and for all not to allow such rhetoric to poison the minds of people.”
After the Bondi Beach attack, UK Prime Minister Sir Keir Starmer expressed support and solidarity, which the Chief Rabbi welcomed alongside Government and police efforts against antisemitism.
He continued,
“There is far more that must be done in terms of hate speech, in terms of policing, in terms of arrests, in terms of controlling social media which is so poisonous.”
What did Alex Davies-Jones say about protests and antisemitism?
Victims Minister Alex Davies-Jones called the rise in antisemitism in Britain “abhorrent” and urged the Government, organisations, and citizens to act decisively.
She said,
“Security is being increased, and the Jewish community has our full support; we stand with them,”
following the Bondi Beach terror attack, which killed 16 people, including a London-born Rabbi.
“That’s totally abhorrent, the rise in anti-Semitism that we are seeing, not just in the UK but around the world. We all need to get a grip on anti-Semitism. We are going further whether that’s with legislation, financial support for the Jewish community, with introducing new offences of protest outside religious places of worship to protect those who are just seeking to celebrate their faith,”
Ms Davies-Jones stated.
The minister warned protesters in London and other cities to avoid chants such as “from the river to the sea” or “globalise the intifada,” describing them as unacceptable at demonstrations held in response to Israel’s military operations following the October 7 Hamas attack.
Ms Davies-Jones said,
“I want to be very, very clear that chants like that, any chants that are designed to intimidate, call for violence, call for the murder of Jews, are totally unacceptable.”
She added,
“The Government has introduced new legislation in order to protect religious places of worship, because anyone who is seeking to protest outside of those venues needs to be very mindful of what they’re doing.”
Ms Davies-Jones added that there is a “fundamental right to protest,” saying,
“What they do not have is a right to intimidate British citizens or call for violence in our streets, because sadly, we have seen the consequences of what happens when that is done.”
What did Tony Abbott say about pro-Gaza protests and the Bondi Beach attack?
Former Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott criticised the policing of pro-Gaza protests in London and other cities, calling it too lenient.
He added,
“If you want to march down central Sydney or central London screaming Death to the IDF or Palestine shall be free from the river to the sea that’s simply unacceptable because in the end that kind of thinking leads to the kind of horror that we saw on Bondi beach yesterday.”
When did the Bondi Beach attack happen, and what are the latest updates?
The Bondi Beach attack occurred on Sunday evening, December 14, 2025, during a large Hanukkah celebration. Authorities have officially designated the mass shooting as an antisemitic terrorist incident.
Gunfire was reported at nearly 6:47 PM local time at Archer Park, adjacent to Bondi Beach, where roughly 1,000 people had gathered for the “Hanukkah by the Sea” event.
Police identified the attackers as Sajid Akram (50) and his son Naveed Akram (24). The father was killed in a shootout with police at the scene, while the son remains in a hospital in critical condition under police guard.
The death toll currently stands at 16, including one of the gunmen. Victims range in age from 10 to 87. At least 42 others were injured and hospitalized.
Despite widespread cancellations of second-day Hanukkah celebrations over security concerns, hundreds of people marked the festival at Bondi Beach, determined to show their culture would not be erased.
What is the Hanukkah celebration?
Hanukkah, also known as the Festival of Lights (or Chanukah), is an eight-day Jewish celebration that commemorates the rededication of the Second Temple in Jerusalem in the 2nd century BCE.
It marks the successful revolt of a small band of Jewish fighters, the Maccabees, against the Syrian-Greek (Seleucid) empire, which had outlawed Jewish practices and defiled the Temple.
The holiday starts on the 25th day of the Jewish month of Kislev. Because the Jewish calendar is lunisolar, the dates vary each year on the Gregorian calendar.
Hanukkah begins at sundown on Sunday, December 14, 2025, and ends on Monday, December 22, 2025.