Despite clear warnings of a likely terror attack, only four police officers were assigned at times to the Chanukah event where the Bondi Beach massacre occurred.
That’s according to the interim report of the Royal Commission into anti-Semitism and social cohesion investigating the terror attack that targeted the local Jewish community.
The report, released on April 30, sets out a clear timeline leading up to the attack.
Six days earlier, on Dec. 8, 2025, the Jewish community-linked Community Security Group (CSG) alerted New South Wales (NSW) Police to 13 upcoming Jewish events in Sydney’s eastern suburbs.
The alert said the threat level was “HIGH” and that a terrorist attack was “likely,” along with heightened anti-Semitic activity.
By Dec. 11, after internal approval, NSW Police circulated a briefing note directing inspectors rostered for Dec. 14 to attend key events, including Chanukah by the Sea, which was targeted by the father-son duo.
Police were told to take “a car crew or two” but that there was “no need to stay the entire duration.”
On Dec. 14, the day of the attack, the events were formally listed for police “tasking,” meaning they were included in patrol duties, while another nearby event was marked only for “monitoring.”
Commissioner Virginia Bell said differences between the information provided by CSG NSW and NSW Police on security arrangements for Chanukah by the Sea cannot be resolved based on the material before the Commission.
Community Concerns Grow
Community leaders said these details raised serious concerns about how law enforcement handled the warnings.“Survivors and the victim families were very insistent on better understanding of why the event was resourced as it was, given the threat level,” said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry.
“So obviously the police are the ones that make the decisions for resourcing. And on the face of it, it seems like this was not adequately done, but ultimately it was also a failure that let down the police themselves,” he told ABC.
Robert Gregory of the Australian Jewish Association said the absence of armed security at the event, due to existing firearms laws, was a “clear failure.”
Police Response and Accountability
The report also highlights that resourcing decisions for Chanukah by the Sea were made by the Operations Inspector at the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command, supported by the commander responsible for overall deployment.Meanwhile, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said the CSG information was available to police, but the force carried out its own risk assessment.
“So as an organisation, we assess events based on intelligence and other information we may have. The policing response was provided on that evening, the royal commissioner has said that she'll examine that incident closely, and I think it’s appropriate that she does,” he said.
When asked whether the risk assessment was inadequate, Lanyon said it was “premature” to say that.
“I’ve also been very clear to say there had been no specific threat for that event, or any event like it, so I think it’s appropriate that we allow the Royal Commission,” he added.
Premier Chris Minns added that they would wait for the Commission to access the issue in detail but added that the state must do “everything possible about tomorrow.”
“The reality is for a state government is that its highest responsibility is to protect its people and on December 14 last year we did not do that,” he told reporters.
