Australia marks Day of Reflection for Bondi Beach shooting victims

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MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Australians will light candles at 6:47 p.m. on Sunday (7:47 GMT) to collectively commemorate the moment the first shots rang out a week earlier at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in an attack on a Jewish festival that left 15 dead.

The federal and New South Wales state governments have declared Sunday a national Day of Reflection, a week after Australia’s worst mass shooting since 35 died in Tasmania state in 1996.

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced on Sunday a review of the nation's federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies following last week's attack, which was inspired by the Islamic State group.

Indigenous leaders held a traditional smoking ceremony on Sunday morning at the waterfront Bondi Pavilion, where an impromptu memorial has grown over the past week as flowers and heartfelt messages have accumulated. The memorial is to be cleared on Monday.

Rabbi Levi Wolff expected thousands would gather at Bondi later Sunday amid tightened security to honor the victims and show solidarity for the Jewish community.

“Australians appreciate that this is an attack that wasn’t just against the Jewish people — we’re an easy target — but this is an attack on the Australian values and they will come here and they will stand together with us shoulder-to-shoulder as they have over the last week to tell the people in this country that there is no tolerance for hate. Violence has no place in our beautiful country,” Wolff said at the memorial.

Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who represents Australia’s head of state King Charles III, accepted an invitation from the National Council of Jewish Women for women of all faiths to lay a flower at the memorial on Sunday morning. Hundreds of women and girls dressed in white joined her in making the gesture.

Mostyn described the shooting as “unspeakably, ghastly acts of terror.”

She endorsed a call from rabbis for millions of mitzvahs, which she interpreted as acts of kindness, in response to the tragedy.

“This is now a national project: mitzvahs, good deeds, care, kindness, compassion to each other, Jewish or otherwise. Everyone in this country belongs,” Mostyn told the gathering.

Last Sunday, two gunmen opened fire on the Hanukkah celebration on the first day of an eight-day Jewish holiday.

Health department authorities said 13 of those wounded at Bondi remained in Sydney hospitals on Sunday.

They include alleged gunman Naveed Akram, 24, who was shot by police. He has been charged with 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of causing harm with intent to murder in relation to those wounded.

His father Sajid Akram, 50, was shot dead by police at the scene.

Police bolstered security around Bondi on Sunday, including with officers armed with rifles. There were criticisms that the first police responders last week were armed only with Glock pistols, which did not have the lethal range of the assailants' shotgun and rifles. Two police officers were critically wounded.

New South Wales Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon assured the public that the increased police presence on Sunday was not in response to a heightened security alert.

“Our priority is ensuring that everyone can come together to honor the victims and support one another without fear,” Lanyon said in a statement.

Flags are flying at half-staff on Sunday on the Sydney Harbor Bridge and on government buildings, which will be lit in yellow on Sunday night in a show of solidarity with the Jewish community.

Television and radio networks have also been asked to pause for a minute’s silence at 6:47 p.m.

Rabbi Eli Feldman said the wider Australian community was invited to join Jews at Bondi to observe the last full day of Hanukkah, which ends at sundown on Monday.

“The Jewish community, together with all of our Australian friends, are all invited to come and light the eighth candle here and show that light will always overcome darkness,” Feldman said.

Albanese's department will examine whether federal law enforcement and intelligence agencies had the correct powers, structures, processes and sharing arrangements in place to keep Australians safe.

The review will report by the end of April 2026, Albanese said in a statement.

Australia's main domestic spy agency had investigated the younger Akram's associates in 2016, but had not concluded he posed a threat, officials said last week.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said victims’ families felt “tragically, unforgivably let down” by government failures to combat a growth in antisemitism in Australia since the war between Israel and Hamas began in 2023.

“I’ve spent time with the families of the victims. They’re just in a bewildered state. They’re still in shock. They don’t know what to do with themselves, let alone contemplate moving forward and healing,” Ryvchin said.

“There’s a lot of anger in the community now as well. I think we’re cycling through the various emotions, the various stages, and there’s a real feeling of having been let down and betrayed. And the community wants answers and we want change,” he added.