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Australian authorities confirm that Bondi Beach attackers were affiliated with Islamic State terror group
(JTA) — The father-and-son duo who killed 15 people during an attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney on Sunday were motivated by “Islamic State ideology,” Australian authorities have confirmed.
Australian media had reported on Monday that the country’s intelligence service had previously investigated Naveed Akram, the son, over his ties to members of an Islamic State cell in Sydney.
On Tuesday, officials confirmed the account and revealed that both Naveed Akram and his father Sajid spent most of November in a region of the Philippines where the Islamic State maintains a stronghold. Officials believe the pair received military training there, though they would not say whether the trip had alarmed security officials at the time.
“It would appear that there is evidence that this was inspired by a terrorist organization, by ISIS,” Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at a press conference on Tuesday. He confirmed that Islamic State flags had been found in Naveed Akram’s car, abandoned at the scene of the shooting.
The revelations complicate the narrative that emerged immediately after the attack connecting it to Australia’s recent pro-Palestinian protest movement, which has at times featured antisemitic displays and attacks on Jewish sites.
But the Islamic State and Hamas, the leading Palestinian liberation organization whose attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, triggered the war in Gaza, have historically been at odds, with the Sunni Islamic State openly viewing Hamas as insufficiently Islamic and an avatar of Iran and Shia Islam.
The Islamic State is a decades-old terrorist group that for a time acted as al-Qaeda’s affiliate and promotes Islamic fundamentalism; its enemy, broadly speaking, is the West and its targets have ranged from Christian churches to concerts to public festivities. Last year, an Islamic State-inspired operative killed 14 people at a New Year’s street party in New Orleans, and the group claimed credit for an attack on a Moscow concert hall that killed more than 140.
Hamas, on the other hand, sought to impose some strictures of Islamic law in Gaza, which it has controlled, but allows a far more permissive religious and cultural environment. Its express goal is the elimination of Israel, and attacks staged by its affiliates abroad, typically supported by Iranian cells, have tended to target Jewish and Israeli sites — as has been the case in Australia, which recently expelled the Iranian ambassador over his country’s alleged ties to a string of attacks on synagogues.
In the immediate aftermath of the Oct. 7 attack, the Israeli government promoted an equivalency between the two groups, citing their similarly brutal tactics. But some experts in terror movements balked at the comparison.
“The Islamic State literally views Hamas as apostates and IS supporters have been pillaging Hamas online since Saturday bc they are tools of Shia Iran and also don’t actually implement sharia [Islamic law] according to IS’s interpretations,” Aaron Zelin, a senior fellow Washington Institute for Near East Policy, tweeted at the time.
But two years of war in Gaza that activated pro-Palestinian sentiment in many places around the world may have shifted the distinctions between the movements, according to terrorism experts, who also say the Islamic State has become more decentralized over time.
Rommel Banlaoi, a political scientist focused on terrorism in the Philippines, told the New York Times this week that a December 2023 attack on a Catholic mass there had marked a turning point for the group.
“Before, the focus was on creating an Islamic state,” Banlaoi said. “Now it has transformed to helping Muslims, Palestinians displaced by the Middle East violence.”
In part, the shift may reflect an opportunistic approach to the masses of people activated online in support of the Palestinian cause. A “Worldwide Threat Assessment” prepared by the U.S. Defense Intelligence Agency in May said the Islamic State and al-Qaeda were showing signs of trying to capitalize on a new audience.
“Both groups continue to reference Israeli operations in Gaza to galvanize their global networks, recruit new members, generate revenue, and enable or inspire attacks against U.S., Israeli, Jewish, and European interests worldwide,” the report said.
An unnamed “senior Arab security official” told the Washington Post in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack that online activism tied to the Islamic State had surged during the war in Gaza. “They are exploiting the emotional outrage of Muslims and use reports of [Muslim] women and children being killed or allegedly starved as tools of recruitment,” the security official said.
Counterterrorism experts also believe that an increased focus on threats related directly to the war in Gaza could have undercut those trying to monitor and stop the Islamic State. Brett Holmgren, then a top counterterrorism official in the Biden administration, for example, said at an event hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies last year that the Islamic State was regrouping “as governments shifted attention and resources to the conflict in Gaza.”
The Islamic State has not claimed responsibility for the Bondi Beach attack, which was immediately condemned by the governments of Arab states that are supportive of the Palestinian cause. Authorities have not said whether the attackers left any record of their intentions or motivation beyond the Islamic State flags found in their car.
The post Australian authorities confirm that Bondi Beach attackers were affiliated with Islamic State terror group appeared first on The Forward.
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Iran Opposes Grossi’s UN Secretary-General Candidacy, Accuses Him of Failing to Uphold International Law
UN nuclear watchdog chief Rafael Grossi holds a press conference on the opening day of the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) quarterly Board of Governors meeting in Vienna, Austria, Sept. 8, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Elisabeth Mandl
Iran has publicly opposed International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director-General Rafael Grossi’s potential appointment as UN Secretary-General next year, accusing him of failing to uphold international law by not condemning US and Israeli strikes on Iranian nuclear sites during the 12-day war between Iran and Israel in June.
During a UN Security Council meeting on Monday, Iran’s Ambassador to the UN, Amir Saeid Iravani, sharply criticized Grossi, calling him unfit” to serve as UN Secretary-General next year, Iranian media reported.
“A candidate who has deliberately failed to uphold the UN Charter — or to condemn unlawful military attacks against safeguarded, peaceful nuclear facilities … undermines confidence in his ability to serve as a faithful guardian of the charter and to discharge his duties independently, impartially, and without political bias or fear of powerful states,” the Iranian diplomat said.
With UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres’ term ending in December next year, member states have already begun nominating candidates to take over the role ahead of the expected 2026 election.
Since the start of the war in Gaza, Israel’s relationship with Guterres has spiraled downward, reaching a low point last year when then-Foreign Minister Israel Katz labeled the UN “antisemitic and anti-Israeli” and declared Guterres persona non grata after the top UN official failed to condemn Tehran for its ballistic missile attack against the Jewish state.
Last week, Argentina officially nominated Grossi to succeed Guterres as the next UN Secretary-General.
To be elected, a nominee must first secure the support of at least nine members of the UN Security Council and avoid a veto from any of its five permanent members — the United States, China, Russia, the United Kingdom, and France.
Afterward, the UN General Assembly votes, with a simple majority needed to confirm the organization’s next leader.
As head of the UN’s nuclear watchdog since 2019, Grossi has consistently urged Iran to provide transparency on its nuclear program and cooperate with the agency, efforts the Islamist regime has repeatedly rejected and obstructed.
Despite Iran’s claims that its nuclear program is solely for civilian purposes rather than weapons development, Western powers have said there is no “credible civilian justification” for the country’s nuclear activity, arguing it “gives Iran the capability to rapidly produce sufficient fissile material for multiple nuclear weapons.”
With prospects for renewed negotiations or nuclear cooperation dwindling, Iran has been intensifying efforts to rebuild its air and defense capabilities decimated during the 12-day war with Israel.
On Monday, Mohammad Eslami, head of the Atomic Energy Organization of Iran (AEOI), declared that the IAEA has no authority to inspect sites targeted during the June war, following Grossi’s renewed calls for Tehran to allow inspections of its nuclear sites and expand cooperation with the agency.
Iran has also announced plans to expand its nuclear cooperation with Russia and advance the construction of new nuclear power plants, as both countries continue to deepen their bilateral relations.
According to AEOI spokesperson Behrouz Kamalvandi, one nuclear power plant is currently operational, while other two are under construction, with new contracts signed during a recent high-level meeting in Moscow.
Kamalvandi also said Iran plans to build four nuclear power plants in the country’s southern region as part of its long-term partnership with Russia.
During a joint press conference in Moscow on Tuesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi reiterated Iran’s commitment to defending the country’s “legal nuclear rights” under the now-defunct 2015 nuclear deal, noting that Tehran’s nuclear policies have remained within the international legal framework.
Iran’s growing ties with Russia, particularly in nuclear cooperation, have deepened in recent years as both countries face mounting Western sanctions and seek to expand their influence in opposition to Western powers.
Russia has not only helped Iran build its nuclear program but also consistently defended the country’s “nuclear rights” on the global stage, while opposing the imposition of renewed economic sanctions.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov has described the reinstatement of UN sanctions against Iran as a “disgrace to diplomacy.”
In an interview with the Islamic Republic of Iran News Network (IRINN), Lavrov accused European powers of attempting to blame Tehran for the collapse of the 2015 nuclear deal, despite what he described as Iran’s compliance with the agreement.
Prior to the 12-day war, the IAEA flagged a series of Iranian violations of the deal.
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Eurovision Host Says It Will Not Drown Out Any Boos During Israel’s Performance
ORF executive producer Michael Kroen attends a press conference about the Eurovision Song Contest in Vienna, Austria, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Lisa Leutner
The host broadcaster of the next Eurovision Song Contest, Austria’s ORF, will not ban the Palestinian flag from the audience or drown out booing during Israel’s performance as has happened at previous shows, organizers said on Tuesday.
The 70th edition of the contest in May will have just 35 entries, the smallest number of participants since 2003, after five national broadcasters including those of Spain, Ireland, and the Netherlands said they would boycott the show in protest at Israel’s participation.
What is usually a celebration of national diversity, pop music, and high camp has become embroiled in diplomatic strife, with those boycotting saying it would be unconscionable to take part given the number of civilians killed in Gaza during Israel’s military campaign following the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s Oct. 7, 2023, invasion of and massacre across southern Israel.
“We will allow all official flags that exist in the world, if they comply with the law and are in a certain form – size, security risks, etc.,” the show’s executive producer, Michael Kroen, told a news conference organized by ORF.
“We will not sugarcoat anything or avoid showing what is happening, because our task is to show things as they are,” Kroen said.
AUSTRIA SUPPORTED ISRAEL PARTICIPATING
The broadcaster will not drown out the sound of any booing from the crowd, as happened this year during Israel’s performance, ORF’s director of programming Stefanie Groiss-Horowitz said.
“We won’t play artificial applause over it at any point,” she said.
Israel’s 2025 entrant, Yuval Raphael, was at the Nova music festival that was a target of the Hamas-led attack. The CEO of Israeli broadcaster KAN had likened the efforts to exclude Israel in 2026 to a form of “cultural boycott.”
ORF and the Austrian government were among the biggest supporters of Israel participating over the objections of countries including Iceland and Slovenia, which will also boycott the next contest in protest. ORF Director General Roland Weissmann visited Israel in November to show his support.
This year’s show drew around 166 million viewers, according to the European Broadcasting Union, more than the roughly 128 million who Nielsen estimates watched the Super Bowl.
The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led terrorists killed 1,200 people, most of them civilians, and seized 251 hostages in an attack on southern Israel.
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Antisemitism Allowed to Fester in Australia, Says Daughter of Wounded Holocaust Survivor
Victoria Teplitsky, daughter of a Holocaust survivor who was wounded at the Bondi shootings, stands at a floral memorial in honor of the victims of the mass shooting targeting a Hanukkah celebration on Sunday, at Bondi Beach, in Sydney, Australia, Dec. 16, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Jeremy Piper
Government authorities have not done enough to stamp out hatred of Jews in Australia, which has allowed it to fester in the aftermath of Oct. 7, said the daughter of a Holocaust survivor who was wounded at the Bondi shootings on Sunday.
Victoria Teplitsky, 53, a retired childcare center owner, said that the father and son who allegedly went on a 10-minute shooting spree that killed 15 people had been “taught to hate,” which was a bigger factor in the attack than access to guns.
“It’s not the fact that those two people had a gun. It’s the fact that hatred has been allowed to fester against the Jewish minority in Australia,” she told Reuters in an interview.
“We are angry at our government because it comes from the top, and they should have stood up for our community with strength. And they should have squashed the hatred rather than kind of letting it slide,” she said.
“We’ve been ignored. We feel like, are we not Australian enough? Do we not matter to our government?”
The attackers fired upon hundreds of people at a Jewish festival during a roughly 10-minute killing spree, forcing people to flee and take shelter before both were shot by police.
RISING ANTISEMITIC ATTACKS
Antisemitic incidents have been rising in Australia since the war in Gaza erupted after Palestinian terrorist group Hamas killed 1,200 Israelis in an attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
A rise in such incidents in the past sixteen months prompted the head of the nation’s main intelligence agency to declare that antisemitism was his top priority in terms of threat.
“This was not a surprise to the Jewish community. We warned the government of this many, many times over,” Teplitsky said.
“We’ve had synagogues that have been graffitied, graffiti everywhere, and we’ve had synagogues that have been bombed,” she added, referring to a 2024 arson attack in Melbourne in which no one was killed.
Teplitsky’s father Semyon, 86, bled heavily after being shot in the leg, and now is facing several operations as doctors piece bone back together with cement, then remove the cement from the leg, which he still may lose, she said.
“He’s in good spirits, but he’s also very angry. Angry that this happened, that this was allowed to happen in Australia, the country that he took his children to, to be safe, to be away from antisemitism, to be away from Jew hatred.”
Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “did nothing” to curb antisemitism.
Albanese repeated on Tuesday Australia‘s support for a two-state solution. Anti-Israel, pro-Hamas protests have been common in Australia since Israel launched its offensive in Gaza.
At a press briefing on Monday, Albanese read through a list of actions his government had taken, including criminalizing hate speech and incitement to violence and a ban on the Nazi salute. He also pledged to extend funding for physical security for Jewish community groups.