Israeli Knesset Member Pnina Tamano-Shata has joined a chorus of Israeli leaders criticizing the Australian government for allowing antisemitism to escalate, leading up to a terrorist attack over the weekend.

Speaking with Fox News Digital, Tamano-Shata accused Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and other officials of ignoring the rise in antisemitic and anti-Israeli sentiment, which she claims has been evident for months. Despite having reports of increasing antisemitism, she argues that the Australian authorities failed to take action.

“When governments, particularly in Australia, fail to intervene before such incidents occur, they effectively provide a tacit approval for antisemites and terrorists to target and harm Jewish communities,” Tamano-Shata stated.

She further explained, “The government doesn’t realize that anti-Israel rhetoric is the new face of antisemitism. There were numerous attacks prior to this event. We’ve witnessed the burning of a synagogue and the assault on an Israeli restaurant. The signs were all there, right in front of them.”

In response to the antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach, Tamano-Shata continues to speak out, urging for more proactive measures to combat hate. (Photo courtesy of Pnina Tamano-Shata)

Tamano-Shata’s comments echo statements from Jewish leaders both in Israel and Australia in the aftermath of the terrorist attack in Sydney on Sunday, which killed 15 people and hospitalized dozens more. The shooters targeted a Hanukkah celebration taking place at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach.

Dionne Taylor, the communications manager of the Australia/Israel Jewish Affairs Council, said it is a painful reality that the attack didn’t come without warning.

“We have been completely let down by our government,” Taylor told Fox News Digital. “We warned them that this snowball effect was going to happen, and it was only a matter of time before someone got killed.”

Armed police work at the scene after a shooting incident at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)

“It started with hate speech,” she said. “Then graffiti. Then public demonstrations. Then firebombing synagogues, preschools, people’s homes, people’s cars. And now murder.”

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu highlighted a letter he sent to Albanese earlier this year when Albanese declared his support for a Palestinian state.

“Your call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire. It rewards Hamas terrorists. It emboldens those who menace Australian Jews and encourages the Jew hatred now stalking your streets. Antisemitism is a cancer. It spreads when leaders stay silent; it retreats when leaders act. I call upon you to replace weakness with action, appeasement with resolve,” Netanyahu read.

“Instead, Prime Minister, you replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement. Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country. You took no action. You let the disease spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews we saw today,” Netanyahu said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar also released uncommonly stark statements following Sunday’s shooting, which killed at least 11 people and hospitalized 29. 

“Time and again we called on the Australian government to take action and fight against the enormous wave of antisemitism that is plaguing Australian society,” Herzog said in a statement on social media, posting an image of a prayer shawl stained in blood.

Saar added that the Australian government had ignored “countless warning signs” and called on leaders to “come to their senses.”