Apologies, I promised I wouldn’t write another blog until the start of 2026
On Sunday, the 14th of December, two gunmen, father and son, killed 15 Jews who were at a festival on Bondi Beach celebrating Hanukkah. Is this antisemitism? Of course, it is, so this terror attack must be unreservedly condemned. A 43-year-old man called Ahmed al Ahmed, a fruit shop owner and father of two, tackled one of the gunmen, confiscated his gun, and most likely saved many other lives. He was shot 5 times and survived. Another couple also confronted one of the gunmen, also took his rifle, but were shot and killed by a handgun in the shooter’s possession. Ahmed and the other couple’s bravery and humanity must be praised because they made the choice not to” walk on by.” On the other hand, Netanyahu went on television and blamed the killings on Australia’s recognition of Palestine as a State.This assertion by any standard is complete BS.
Netanyahu also has successfully conflated any criticism of his Reich’s genocidal actions in Gaza with anti-Semitism. Consequently, those who carried out the killings in Bondi concluded that all Jews and Jewish organisations support both the Netanyahu regime and their genocidal actions in Gaza. This is untrue. Omer Bartov, an eminent Jewish scholar, has clearly said that what is going on in Gaza is genocide and ethnic cleansing, as has the writer, Peter Beinhart, and journalist Gideon Levy, who writes for the Haaretz newspaper.
The actions of the IDF after the tragic events of October 7th, 2023, have seen the killing of 70,000 Gazans, including 20,000 children, the displacement of 90% of the population and the complete destruction of Gaza. This has been allowed to happen because of the continuing post Holocaust guilt of European nations and the fear that any criticism of Israeli actions will be called out by Netanyahu or Herzog as anti-Semitic. Consequently, European governments and the US have allowed Netanyahu and his regime to commit war crimes on a scale not seen since World War II. The skilled lobbying of pro-Israeli organisations has neutered governments across the world, including Germany and the UK. For example, Starmer, a former human rights lawyer, is unable to say the” G” word.
I have openly criticised Netanyahu’s government actions and the war crimes perpetrated by the IDF. Does it make me anti-Semitic? Of course, it doesn’t. I have a theory why there has been an increase in antisemitism. Worldwide Jewry have not come out either loudly or in large numbers to criticise the action of Netanyahu’s regime in Gaza, and some idiots have concluded that they, meaning Worldwide Jewry, support and as a consequence are complicit in the actions carried out by the IDF in Gaza. This thesis is not entirely accurate, as silence does not imply complicity, although it could be interpreted in that manner. In addition, to believe that there is a single Jewish view on the conflict in Gaza is also wrong. If anyone must take responsibility for the rise in antisemitism, it is the genocidal actions of Netanyahu and his henchmen, Katz, Smotrich and Gvir.
Better late than never,450 prominent Jewish figures around the world wrote an open letter calling on the UN and world leaders to impose sanctions on Israel over what they describe as “unconscionable” actions amounting to genocide in Gaza. Signatories include former speaker of the Israeli Knesset Avraham Burg, peace negotiator Daniel Levy, British author Michael Rosen, and Naomi Klein. They also reject the false claims of antisemitism against those advocating for peace, justice, and the right to Palestinian self-determination. They also say that “Our solidarity with Palestinians is not a betrayal of Judaism, but a fulfilment of it.” The Board of Deputies of British Jews, the Jewish Leadership Council, the current Chief Rabbi in the UK, Sir Ephraim Mirvis and our Prime Minister should “grow a pair” and follow the lead of the 450.
On the BBC’s Politics Live, Jake Berry, ex-Tory minister, who found his Road to Damascus by defecting to Reform, has aped Netanyahu by making a direct causal link between the killings in Bondi and Australia’s recognition of Palestine. He saw this as a reward to Hamas. This man has publicly failed to acknowledge the genocide and war crimes being conducted by the Israeli state. He has shown little empathy or humanity for the 20,000 children killed in Gaza. Maybe he should introduce himself to Mike Huckerbee and Tommy Robinson. Wes Streeting said that the term global intifada is a form of hate speech that encourages violence and acts of terrorism against Jewish people. The term, first used after 2023, is a slogan that has been used to advocate for international support of Palestinian resistance against Israeli occupation. Note that both Gaza and the West Bank are referred to as “Occupied Territories” under international law. Anyone who believes that the term “globalise the intifada” in itself encouraged the Bondi killings or any other sort of violent anti-Semitic act is deluded. Why the focus on this one phrase now? Clearly, another Israeli government public relations “dead cat strategy.”
So, to the Jewish people throughout the world, stand up and call out without fear, the atrocities and crimes against humanity being perpetrated, allegedly in your name by this far-right messianic Israeli government, and is it beyond our humanity that at the same time, we can remember the victims and the families of October 7th, December 14th and continue the fight against antisemitism.
I finish with a quote from Nelson Mandela: “As long as poverty, injustice and gross inequality persist in our world, none of us can truly rest“.
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Suneil Sharma
15th December 2025
The Gob 
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