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The murdered rabbi and the Arab hero/ "Everyone was running away, it was a massacre"
2025-12-15 16:12:39 / BOTA
Bondi Beach is an iconic Sydney landmark, one of the world's most famous beaches, known for its laid-back atmosphere, golden sand, blue sea and surf. It was there that the crowd was celebrating Hanukkah, the Jewish holiday, the first night of a much-anticipated celebration, a fun evening for families. But it all turned into the country's worst mass shooting in almost 30 years, one of the deadliest attacks on Jews outside Israel in decades.
Among the at least 16 people killed was Sydney Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 40, a Chabad Lubavitch emissary who had served there for 18 years. He was described as “a warm, energetic and highly regarded man.” The injured numbered 29, but the toll remains provisional. The dead included a child from a local Jewish school, a 12-year-old girl and an Israeli citizen.
Schlanger, who was born in England, had recently organized an event to commemorate the Chabad emissaries killed, including those in the 2008 Mumbai attack. Two months earlier, his wife had given birth to a son.
Alex Kleytman, a Holocaust survivor originally from Ukraine, was identified as another victim of the massacre. His wife, Larisa, said: “He had come to Bondi Beach to celebrate Hanukkah; it has always been a very nice holiday for us, for many years. We were standing and suddenly there was a ‘boom, boom’ and everyone fell to the ground. At that moment he was behind me and decided to come closer. He wanted to be next to me.” The couple have two children and 11 grandchildren.
It was a moment of fear and panic. Nico, an American who has lived in Bondi for six months, was on his way to meet friends to surf when he heard “a series of explosions” and saw people running in all directions. At first he thought they were fireworks. He didn’t see the gunman, but he says the shots “seemed very close.” His reaction was simple: “I just ran.” The explosions seemed to last “forever.”
Fin Green, an Englishman, also thought he heard fireworks. He was in his apartment and went out the window. He says he saw a man on the roof of a white car shooting. Some people were falling to the ground. Others began “running and screaming,” heading for his apartment. Green closed the curtains and hid in a closet.
Elizabeth Mealey, a former journalist, was dining at Icebergs restaurant on Bondi Beach when she heard the shots. “People started running towards the beach, it was panic. Some people were just standing there, not understanding what was happening, it was terrifying.” “It seemed like a long time before we heard a siren. It was complete chaos.”
But in this dark story of hatred and intolerance there is also a hero. His name is Ahmed. He managed to disarm one of the attackers at Bondi Beach. The scene was this: he approaches the aggressor who was shooting from behind, jumps on him and takes his weapons. The attacker stumbles and falls. Ahmed points the gun at him, but does not find the strength to shoot.
Ahmed is 43, has two children and runs a fruit shop. The event at Bondi Beach had attracted more than a thousand people and was expected to culminate with the lighting of a large menorah, a seven-branched lamp, one of the most ancient symbols of the Jewish religion.
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