Officers were told they did not need to stay for the entire Chanukah by the Sea event targeted in last year’s Bondi terror attack by their operations chief, according to royal commission findings.
The Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion’s interim report was released on Thursday, two months after starting its work probing the December 14 attack.
It detailed Jewish security group CSG’s repeated warnings to NSW Police, including a December 8 email describing the security threat level for the Jewish community as “high”.
“A terrorist attack against the NSW Jewish Community is likely and there is a high level of antisemitic vilification,” CSG wrote to the Operation SHELTER Intelligence Unit.
The organisation requested “deployment of resources for the entirety of the event”.
However, NSW Police said the Eastern Suburbs PAC “received no specific request for dedicated police resources” while acknowledging there was a “request for police presence”.
“NSW Police stated that the event organiser was responsible for security for
Chanukah by the Sea, and any police involvement was supplementary and focused
on maintaining public order and community safety,” the royal commission’s report said.
“Although it is possible for community event organisers to request an increased or visible policing presence at an event on a user-pays basis, there has been no evidence provided that this User Charges Policy was invoked for, or even applied to, Chanukah by the Sea.”
The Eastern Suburbs PAC’s operations inspector, who is responsible for managing officer deployments, “had access” to event details and CSG’s warnings, including the request for “resources for the entirety” of Chanukah by the Sea.
A briefing note issued by the operations inspector declared the festival and several other Jewish celebrations “major events” and said “Eastern Suburbs PAC Commander, Command Inspector, and additional HVP (high visibility policing) teams will be in attendance to provide oversight, maintain a strong visible presence, and ensure public safety”.
But in a subsequent email to two command inspectors on duty on December 14, the operations inspector wrote: “Please take a car crew or two with you and provide a HVP presence. No need to stay the entire duration, but your presence will ensure the community
feel safe.”
Three police officers were on duty when “ISIS-inspired” gunmen opened fire on the festival, killing 15 innocents, injuring dozens more and tearing at Australia’s multicultural social fabric.
It took almost seven minutes before police could immobilise the suspects.
Sajid Akram was shot dead at the scene, while his son Naveed has been arrested and charged with 59 offences, including 15 counts of murder and one of committing a terrorist attack.
Responding to the report, Dr Dvir Abramovich of the Anti-Defamation Commission said it was “a scream from Bondi Beach and it doesn’t comfort me”.
“It terrifies me. Because it confirms the one thing every Jewish Australian already knew in their gut: the danger was real, it was rising, and it was seen and still, fifteen innocent people were slaughtered,” he said in a statement.
“The interim report confirms what Jewish Australians have been saying for far too long: the warning signs were flashing red.
“Antisemitism was not simmering in the background. It was surging, mutating, becoming bolder, more violent, more reckless.
“And yet a public Jewish festival, in a known high-threat environment, was not treated with the full force, seriousness and protective urgency it deserved.”
Dr Abramovich welcomed Anthony Albanese’s pledge to implement all of the interim report’s 14 recommendations, but said “words will not protect a synagogue”.
“Words will not guard a school gate. Words will not stop a bullet. Implementation must be immediate, national, ruthless and measurable,” Dr Abramovich said.
“Every Jewish festival, every synagogue, every school, every public Jewish gathering must now be treated as a potential target until this country proves otherwise.
“The Jewish community does not need sympathy wrapped in press conference language. We need protection. We need action. We need governments, police and security agencies to stop treating antisemitism as a community concern and start treating it as a national security emergency.”
