(Communicated by the President’s Spokesperson)
On Monday, February 9, 2026, President Isaac Herzog addressed a major memorial for the victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack. In attendance were families of the victims of the terror attack, survivors of the attack, and thousands of members of the Sydney Jewish community.
Also in attendance at the event were the Governor of New South Wales, Margaret Beazley; Premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns MP; former prime minister of Australia, Scott Morrison; the Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel; the Chairman of the Jewish Agency, Maj. Gen. (res.) Doron Almog; Chair of the Fund for Victims of Terror and J-Ready, Former MK Ayelet Nahmias-Verbin; as well as leaders of the Australian Jewish community, including Jeremy Leibler, President of the Zionist Federation of Australia; David Ossip, President of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies; and Gary Pearlstone, President of the NSW UIA.
From president herzog’s remarks at the event:
“15 innocent lives, Jewish and non-Jewish, gunned down by cruelty, by hate, by evil, by extremism. Dozens more were wounded, as the Australian people and the Jewish people worldwide were left with trauma. The physical and emotional scars from December 14 will forever be a part of our two nations.”
“I am honored to join this beautiful community—which includes bereaved families of Bondi, accompanied by bereaved families of Israel. We have longed to see you and to grieve with you, and we come bearing the prayers of your Israeli family.”
“I know the tragedy of Bondi is not an isolated event. I know also that it follows two agonizing years for this community. Your Jewish identities became targets in Australia, just as you watched a massacre unfold in Israel.”
“The hatred that triggered the shooting at Bondi is the very same, age-old, plague of antisemitism endured by our parents and grandparents. It began long before October 7th, generations before even the State of Israel was born. Yet somehow, the October 7th massacre, the greatest mass murder of Jews since the Shoah, emboldened closeted antisemites, here in Australia and around the world.”
“The horrors in Israel empowered Jihadi extremism to rear its ugly head, here, in the country that welcomed thousands and thousands of survivors of the Holocaust, refugees of pogroms, Jews reemerging behind the Iron Curtain.”
“Friends, this is why we are here in Sydney. Why we had to come. We had to be here with you! Hug you, strengthen you and tell you: Am Yisrael Chai!”
“Only by doing, by showing up. And so, in the wake of the horror at Bondi Beach, we felt we must come to australia to look you in the eye. To show up for you. We have come here not simply to tell you we are with you, but to show you that we are with you.”
“Australian Jewry has been with us in our greatest hours of need. This community is inspirational in its connection to Israel, in its proactive Zionism. Your carry your Jewish identities with pride, and I embrace the opportunity to recognize this incredible community, your contribution to Australia and to the people of Israel! I view my visit here as an opportunity to tell the story of who we are, as a people and as a nation.”
“And I am here also to reinvigorate the important relations between our two strong democracies. I know that by working together we will find the way to expand collaboration and increase understanding and upgrade our relations. During my visit, I intend to discuss it with your national leadership.”
“Our nations are bound by this history, by decades of close friendship, by this outstanding Jewish community, and now, dear friends, we are unfortunately bound also by tragedy. Together we grieve, together we remember, and together we will build a safer future we can share! I thank you all, and I salute the many leaders in this room.”
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