Britain is checking on the security of its Chanukah events after the Bondi terror attack, as European leaders express their dismay at the antisemitism and pledge to stand with Australia against religious hatred.
UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer said he was working with the Jewish community in the UK in the wake of the Bondi attack, given that similar ceremonies are planning within hours in Europe.
French President Emmanuel Macron, Italian Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni, European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen and other national leaders all expressed their sympathy for the victims of the Australian shootings.
“The news that the Bondi Beach attack was an antisemitic terrorist attack against Jewish families at a Chanukah event is sickening,” said Starmer.
“My thoughts are with the victims and their families. The United Kingdom will always stand with Australia and the Jewish community. We are actively working with the CST UK on the policing of Chanukah events.”
The Community Security Trust in the UK is the peak Jewish group that counter antisemitism and seeks to prevent attacks on country’s Jewish people. It played a key role in responding to the terror attack on a synagogue in Manchester in October when two worshippers were killed.
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A Chanukah event is being held on Sunday in Trafalgar Square in the centre of London.
Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky expressed his country’s condolences.
“Ukraine stands in solidarity with Australia in the face of the brutal terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, Sydney, which targeted the Jewish community at the start of Hanukkah,” he wrote on X.
“Terror and hatred must never prevail — they must be defeated everywhere and every time.”
Macron said France shared the pain of the victims, the injured and their loved ones.
“We share the pain of the Australian people and will continue to fight relentlessly against antisemitic hatred, which hurts us all, wherever it strikes,” he said. Parisians will mark Chanukah on Sunday night at the Eiffel Tower at 8pm (6am Monday, AEDT).
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