Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered Sunday during a Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach in an antisemitic terror attack, had spent years warning Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese about the rise of antisemitism in Australia.
Rabbi Eli Schlanger, who was murdered today by terrorists while celebrating Hanukkah at Bondi Beach in Sydney, leaves behind a wife and four children.
— Vivid.🇮🇱 (@VividProwess) December 14, 2025
I’m heartbroken. pic.twitter.com/pr86xTPmQn
A friend of Rabbi Schlanger's, Mor Greenberg, a Jewish Israeli advocate, said those warnings went entirely unaddressed for years.
"The writing was literally written on the walls. It was written on the walls of my nephew's school, it was written on the walls in Bondi Junction, it was written on the walls of multiple synagogues, and the warnings went unheeded," said Monday on "Fox & Friends."
Rabbi Schlanger had written a letter to Prime Minister Albanese in September, telling him "not to betray the Jewish people" and saying he had "the opportunity to stand on the side of truth and righteousness." The letter has received renewed attention since the horrific terrorist attack over the weekend.
Greenberg continued that the Rabbi was "extremely frustrated" with the Australian government for not doing more, and that he was not alone.
"At a certain point, it gets frustrating, and you say, 'How many more times am I gonna have to do this?' But then, when I woke up, and I saw Rabbi Eli Schlanger's face, and it was someone I knew personally, it all hit home even closer," she said. "The Australian government rewarded the terrorists. They rewarded Hamas with a Palestinian state. What do you think happens when you reward terror? It just brings more terror."
Co-host Brian Kilmeade then played a clip of the Australian Prime Minister arguing that his government had taken the threat of antisemitism seriously.
"Absolutely not," Greenberg said. "I can tell you my family and my friends there are scared. They feel the need to hide their Judaism. This is a Western country. It's so hard to believe," she said. "And that's what they convey to me. They cannot believe the situation they're facing. They cannot believe the lack of action."
"Everybody feels that this government has failed them. This was a moment where they could have really come forward and said, 'We are gonna stand by the Jewish community.' And I don't think that they stepped up to that."
On Sunday, two gunmen opened fire on hundreds of people gathered for a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in Sydney, targeting attendees of a “Chanukah by the Sea” celebration. The shooters were a 50-year-old man, Sajid Akram, and his 24-year-old son, Naveed Akram. Sajid was shot and killed by police, while his son remains in critical condition. Australian authorities have said the terror attack was directly targeting Jews.
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