Bondi Community United in Grief After Two Tragic Incidents

Mon Dec 22 2025 14:43:26 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

As the Bondi community grapples with the shock of two deadly attacks within two years, residents reflect on the impact and seek ways to find hope and resilience.

The seaside suburb of Bondi is reeling from two tragic incidents within 18 months, including a fatal shooting during a Jewish festival and a stabbing spree the previous year. Community members reflect on their experiences and the new fears that have emerged in the wake of these events, emphasizing the need for unity and healing.

As helicopters circled overhead, sirens descended on her suburb, and people ran screaming down her street on 14 December, Mary felt a grim sense of deja vu.

That was when I knew there was something seriously wrong – again, she said, her eyes brimming with tears.

Mary - who did not want to give her real name - was at the Westfield Bondi Junction shopping centre in April last year when six people were stabbed to death by a man in psychosis, a tragedy still fresh in the minds of many.

Findings from a coroner's inquest into the incident were due to be delivered this week, but were delayed after two gunmen unleashed a hail of bullets on an event marking the start of the Jewish festival of Hanukkah eight days ago.

Declared a terror attack by police, 15 people were shot and killed, including a 10-year-old girl who still had face paint curling around her eyes.

The first paramedic to confront the bloody scenes at the Chanukah by the Sea event was also the first paramedic on the scene at the Westfield stabbings.

You just wouldn't even fathom that something like this would happen, Mary, who is originally from the UK, tells the BBC. I say constantly to my family at home how safe it is here.

This was the overarching sentiment in the days following the shooting. This kind of thing, mass murder, just doesn't happen in Australia.

But it can and it has – twice, in the same community, within 18 months.

A sea of flowers left by shocked and grieving people at Bondi is being packed up. A national day of reflection is over. On Sunday night, Jewish Australians lit candles for the last time this Hannukah.

But the two tragedies have left scores physically scarred and traumatised, and the nation's sense of safety shattered.

'Everyone knows someone affected'

Bondi is Australia's most famous beach - a globally recognised symbol of its way of life.

It's also a quintessential slice of Australian community. There's a bit of everyone knows everyone - and that means everyone knows someone affected by the 14 December tragedy, mayor Will Nemesh told the BBC.

One of the first people I texted was [Rabbi] Eli Schlanger. And I said, 'I hope you're OK. Call me if you need anything', he said.

But the British-born father of five, also known as the Bondi Rabbi, was among the dead.

Mayor Nemesh fears this will forever be a stain on Bondi, and Australia. If this can happen here at Bondi Beach, it really could happen anywhere… the impact has reverberated around Australia.