Prime Minister Anthony Albanese dismissed accusations that Australia’s recognition of Palestine contributed to the deadly antisemitic attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach.
Responding to his Israeli counterpart, Benjamin Netanyahu’s condemnation, Albanese said that the attack was inspired by ISIS and that ISIS is a perversion of Islam that essentially doesn’t agree with any recognition of nation-states.
“This was an ISIS-inspired attack. We know that ISIS is an ideology, a perversion of Islam that essentially doesn’t agree with any recognition of nation states, seeks a caliphate,” Albanese said during a press conference.
“It is an extremist ideology that seeks a caliphate as its objective. Now there is evidence there … some of which, of course, is not yet public, and I don’t want to interfere with those investigations, but it is very clear that this is antisemitic,” he added.
The Australian prime minister’s remarks come after Israeli PM Netanyahu said that he had warned Albanese over the country’s policies, which he said fuelled antisemitism.
“A few months ago, I wrote a letter to the Prime Minister of Australia. I said that their policy was pouring oil on the flames of antisemitism and encouraging the hatred of Jews that is raging in the streets of Australia,” Netanyahu said.
Two gunmen had opened fire at a Jewish holiday celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Dec 14, killing 15 people and wounding 40 others.
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Bondi Beach shooter transferred from hospital to correctional centre
Meanwhile, the Bondi Beach shooter, Naveed Akram, has been transferred to a correctional centre, the NSW police confirmed on Monday, according to The Sydney Morning Herald.
“Officers attached to Traffic and Highway Patrol, Pol Air, and the Public Order and Riot Squad, have assisted Corrective Services NSW with the transfer of a 24‑year‑old prisoner from a North Shore hospital to a correctional facility,” police said in a statement.
The deadly shooting at Bondi Beach, Sydney, during an event marking the start of Hanukkah, killed 15, including a child, and injured over 40 others.
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Australian authorities said that the shooters were identified as Naveed Akram, 24, a man from the city’s south-west, and his 50-year-old father, Sajid Akram.
Sajid Akram died at the scene, while Naveed Akram was placed under police guard in the hospital with critical wounds.
