Sydney Attack: L’Express Warns of Further Targets

In Gaza, the guns have been silent for two months. Elsewhere in the world, anti-Semitic hatred has not screamed this loudly in decades. In the West, pro-Palestinian demonstrations bring together smaller and more radicalized crowds against Israel every weekend, with a heady slogan: “globalize the intifada.” Or spread across the globe this “war of stones” which pitted Israelis and Palestinians twice.

In Sydney, this December 14, this slogan came to life. Or rather, he sowed death. Two terrorists, a father and his son, massacred fifteen people on Bondi Beach, in the middle of a Hanukkah ceremony. If the anti-Semitic motive is beyond doubt, the mistakes of the authorities raise questions: while the son was close to the Islamic State and under surveillance, his father had a weapons permit and six firearms. How was such relaxation possible? Part of the Australian media points to the Labor government’s hesitation to tackle anti-Semitism head-on, worried about antagonizing the country’s Muslim community.

The authorities were nevertheless informed of the threat: Israeli intelligence had provided numerous alerts to Canberra, in particular on Iranian networks ready to strike the Jewish community. Serious threats, which convinced Australia to expel the Iranian ambassador in August. Insufficient to stop this deadly machine.

31% of 18-24 year olds consider it legitimate to attack Jewish French people

The Sydney attack reminds us: we have entered a new era of hatred of Jews. “Two years after the October 7 massacre, it should be clear that anti-Semitism does not remain confined to rhetoric,” underlines Moshe Kantorn, president of the European Jewish Congress, in a recent column for Euronews. “It metastasizes into violence, destabilizes communities and poisons the very fabric of democratic life.” In the United States, anti-Semitic venom is spreading openly, from the far left on campus to the most famous Maga influencers, like Candace Owens and neo-Nazi Nick Fuentes, with direct access to the White House.

France is not immune, even if the authorities have learned the lessons of the tragedies of the Ozar Hatorah school in Toulouse in 2012 or the Hyper Cacher in 2015. Synagogues, places where the Jewish community lives and their festivals, such as the celebration of Hanukkah on the Champs-Elysées this Sunday, remain under strong police protection. Which does not prevent anti-Semitism from flourishing: in September, an Ifop survey revealed that 31% of 18-24 year olds consider it legitimate to attack French Jews because of the war in Gaza. We too are in a new era.