\u201cThe commission needs to investigate the security arrangements for that event, and to report on whether our intelligence and law enforcement agencies performed to maximum effectiveness,\u201d Bell said.<\/p>\n
\t Police say the gunmen, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed Akram, were inspired by the Islamic State group.<\/p>\n Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the scene, while Naveed Akram, who was also shot but survived, is currently facing charges including 15 counts of murder and a terror offense.<\/p>\n Limited scope of inquiry<\/p>\n Due to the ongoing legal proceedings, no potential witnesses in Akram\u2019s trial will be called to give evidence to the commission, Bell said.<\/p>\n Bell said she plans to meet with victims\u2019 families in private to explain some of the limitations of her inquiry.<\/p>\n Richard Lancaster, the top lawyer assisting Bell with the inquiry, said his team had sent dozens of requests to government and other agencies to produce documentary evidence, but the level of responses are \u201cnot presently where we would like it to be.\u201d<\/p>\n There was no testimony heard or evidence given on Tuesday, and the commission is yet to determine when it will next sit.<\/p>\n Michele Goldman, CEO of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, said after the hearing that the inquiry would be an opportunity to showcase the community\u2019s \u201chorrific\u201d experiences of antisemitism.<\/p>\n \t But some people directly impacted by the attack would find it \u201cvery hard\u201d to be barred from sharing their accounts with the inquiry, she said.<\/p>\n Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had initially resisted calls to set up a Royal Commission, saying the process would take years, which attracted criticism from Jewish groups and victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n Australia\u2019s 120,000-strong Jewish community has long complained that Albanese hasn\u2019t done enough to protect them from rising antisemitism following the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza, and that his critical position on Israel has emboldened pro-Palestinian and anti-Israel activists to target Jewish institutions.<\/p>\n \t Albanese\u2019s occasional statements of support for the community after the many attacks on Jews in the past two years have frequently been met with cynicism.<\/p>\n Many in Australia\u2019s Jewish community say the government, and Albanese in particular, \u201cabandoned<\/a>\u201d them, arguing that clear warning signs and a spate of antisemitic attacks were ignored in the lead-up to the Bondi massacre.<\/p>\n Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023, sparking the Gaza war and setting off a tidal wave of antisemitism across the globe, Australia\u2019s Jewish community has been among the hardest hit<\/a>.<\/p>\n Australia has seen successive marches and protests that have included antisemitic rhetoric, as well as attacks on synagogues, schools and homes. Instances included a firebomb attack on a synagogue, two nurses who threatened to kill Jewish patients at their hospital, and the law enforcement discovery of a trailer filled with explosives, said to have been intended to cause a mass-casualty event at a Sydney synagogue.<\/p>\n
If so, we have a request.\u00a0<\/p>\n Every day during the past two years of war and rising global anti-Zionism and antisemitism, our journalists kept you abreast of the most important developments that merit your attention. Millions of people rely on ToI for fact-based coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.\u00a0<\/p>\n We care about Israel – and we know you do too. So we have an ask for this new year of 2026: express your values by joining The Times of Israel Community, an exclusive group for readers like you who appreciate and financially support our work.\u00a0<\/p>\n \t\t\t
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\n\t\tEmergency workers transport a person on a stretcher after a deadly terror shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney, December 14, 2025. (AP\/Mark Baker)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/sydney-2-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tSwastikas daubed on a synagogue in Newtown on January 11, 2025, in Sydney, Australia. (Screen grab via ABC News)<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/AFP__20251215__884Y763__v4__HighRes__MassShootingAtJewishFestivalOnAustraliaSBondiBe-640x400.jpg\")
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\n\t\tA handout photo taken and released by the Australian Prime Minister\u2019s Office on December 15, 2025, shows Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese laying flowers at the Bondi Pavilion at Bondi Beach, the scene of a deadly terror shooting targeting a Hanukkah event, 15 people were killed. (AFP \/ AUSTRALIAN PRIME MINISTER\u2019S OFFICE)<\/p>\n
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