Australian police did no threat assessment before Bondi attack, inquiry hears
By Christine Chen
Inquiry reveals failures in police threat assessment and response
SYDNEY, May 25 (Reuters) - Australian state police did not prepare a threat assessment for the event where the Bondi Beach mass shooting occurred and denied a request from the Jewish community to station officers there, an inquiry into the attack heard on Monday.
The comments came during public hearings in the wide-ranging inquiry known as a Royal Commission that focus on events prior to last December's Bondi attack, which killed 15 attending a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at the famed Sydney beach.
Lack of threat assessment and police presence
A New South Wales police officer said no threat assessment was prepared for the event, but agreed in hindsight that one would have been appropriate.
"I see no reason why a threat assessment could not be completed for that event," said Assistant Commissioner Leanne McCusker, adding that such an exercise would have enabled security arrangements that matched the threat level.
Criteria for threat assessments
Threat assessments are generally limited for gatherings classed as major events, including Jewish high holy days, but not Hanukkah.
Warnings from the Jewish community and CSG
The inquiry also heard that state police were warned of the risks by CSG, a Jewish private security service group, before the attack.
CSG gave them its own threat assessment, warning of a heightened risk of violent or antisemitic incidents at Hanukkah, the inquiry heard.
This stemmed from "the anticipated visibility of identifiably Jewish individuals in public spaces and the prominence of the festival", such as the Bondi event, the inquiry heard.
Request for police presence denied
An anonymous CSG member said he requested "static" police officers at the event in view of the risk, the numbers expected to attend and the fact that it was to be held in the open air, where CSG could not carry arms.
But police did not believe they were required, he added.
"I said that there would be a lot of unease from the community not having a static police presence on the ground."
Terror threat level and escalation of antisemitism
TERROR THREAT LEVEL RAISED
The inquiry was also told that antisemitism in Australia was left unchecked after the outbreak of the Israel-Gaza war, which fuelled violence against Jewish people and led the spy agency to raise the national terrorism threat level to "probable" from "possible" in August 2024.
Impact of Middle East conflict on local security
"The war in the Middle East invoked a range of emotions in Australia," said Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation.
"Some of those violent aspects ... and those behaviours, including antisemitism that, in our view, were left unchecked, were therefore normalised and gave more permission for violence ... and Jewish Australians were on the receiving end."
Escalation from threats to direct attacks
From late 2024, Burgess said, antisemitism also escalated from threats and intimidation to direct targeting of people, businesses and places of worship.
Such incidents included vandalism and arson targeting homes, schools, synagogues and vehicles before the Bondi attack.
Foreign involvement in antisemitic attacks
Burgess said the agency concluded that Iran's elite Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was behind two antisemitic attacks, on a kosher restaurant in Sydney and Melbourne's Adass Israel Synagogue.
Iran was probably involved in more attacks, but the agency "just can't quite get there" in its efforts to nail down responsibility, he added.
Concerns about further escalation
"There was absolutely a concern that the antisemitism could escalate to actual terrorist acts" after the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023, said Stephen Nutt, an assistant commissioner of the Australian Federal Police.
Focus of the Royal Commission
The commission's first series of hearings earlier this month focused on the nature and prevalence of antisemitism, taking testimony from members of the Jewish community.
(Reporting by Christine Chen in Sydney; Editing by Clarence Fernandez)
