Ireland's chief rabbi urges Jewish community not to 'retreat in fear' after Bondi Beach attack

Chief Rabbi of Ireland Yoni Wieder. Picture: Taryn Barling

Ireland’s chief rabbi has said “no one can guarantee that things will not turn violent” in Ireland following Sunday's attack on Sydney’s Bondi Beach.

Yoni Wieder has urged the Jewish community not to “retreat in fear”, but instead come together after 16 people, including an alleged gunman, were killed and dozens were injured in the shooting. 

Two gunmen opened fire on more than 1,000 people attending a Jewish festival in the Archer Park area of Australia’s most famous beach at 6.47pm local time on Sunday.

Mr Wieder said the people responsible for the attack "and those who cheer them on" want Jewish people "to live in fear in Sydney and far beyond it".

“Our response is unequivocal. We are strong, we are resilient, and we will continue to express our Jewish identities openly and proudly.” 

Mr Wieder met with Garda Commissioner Justin Kelly on Sunday after gardaí announced a ramping-up of patrols at centres and events for the Irish Jewish community following the Bondi attack.

He said the meeting was "about intelligence" and identifying potential threats as early as possible. He said it was important anyone found to have issued threats or incited violence was held to account.

"We are so appreciative of the gardaí for their reassurances yesterday," he said, highlighting the importance of "enhanced security around Jewish institutions and our communal events".

He said while the additional support given to them over the past two years was welcomed, “this cannot be addressed by policing alone”.

“We must not get into the cycle of building ever higher fences and deploying ever more guards. That is not the solution. There is a deep and ugly hatred against Jewish people festering in parts of the Western world, and regrettably, within parts of Irish society as well. Hatred has to be identified and confronted and struck out.” 

According to Mr Wieder, there are “serious concerns” for Jewish people in Ireland, as there has been a “sharp rise in incidents” of hatred towards people from their community.

He told RTÉ's Morning Ireland: “For many months, we've had targeted graffiti in Dublin, explicitly calling to kill Jews. So against that background, and coupled with the fatal attack that we saw first in Manchester on Yom Kippur and now in Sydney on Hanukkah, people are starting to recognise the hard truth that no one can guarantee that things will not turn violent here too.”

Mr Wieder said several Jewish children had told him they had been bullied because of their identity.

“They now avoid speaking about their identity in front of their classmates. Jewish university students report similar experiences. Online antisemitism from Irish users is particularly vicious,” he said.