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New York Times columnist Bret Stephens argued in a piece Monday that the horrific shooting during a Hanukkah celebration in Australia is the ultimate manifestation of what “globalize the intifada” actually means.
Police say a father and son were behind the horrifying mass shooting that left 15 victims dead and 40 people hospitalized during a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia. The attack on the Jewish community is being investigated as an act of terrorism.
As many conservatives call out the Australian government for being unprepared to handle such an attack, Stephens, who is of Jewish ancestry himself, joined the fray with a piece headlined, “Bondi Beach Is What ‘Globalize the Intifada’ Looks Like.” He claimed that the problem of anti-Jewish attacks does not just come from foreign, but from domestic sources.
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A member of the Jewish community reacts as he walks with police toward the scene of a shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on Dec. 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
The phrase “Globalize the Intifada,” according to the American Jewish Committee, “calls for people from around the globe to participate in rising up against Israel.” The term became a major source of controversy for the past year after New York City mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani initially defended its use. He relented in later months as the election approached.
“Though we’ll probably learn more in the weeks ahead about the mind-set of Sunday’s killers, it’s reasonable to surmise that what they thought they were doing was ‘globalizing the intifada,’” Stephens wrote. “That is, they were taking to heart slogans like ‘resistance is justified’ and ‘by any means necessary,’ which have become ubiquitous at anti-Israel rallies the world over. For many of those who chant those lines, they may seem like abstractions and metaphors, a political attitude in favor of Palestinian freedom rather than a call to kill their presumptive oppressors.”
He went on to add, “But there are always literalists — and it’s the literalists who usually believe their ideas should have real-world consequences. On Sunday, those consequences were written in Jewish blood. History tells us that it won’t be the last time.”
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Armed police work at the scene after the shooting at Bondi Beach in Sydney on December 14, 2025. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
Stephens also blasted the Australian government, led by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of the Labor Party, arguing, “the problem for the Albanese government, which in September recognized a Palestinian state and has been outspoken in its condemnation of Israeli actions in Gaza, is that the moral line between the routine demonization of Israel and attacks on Jews who are presumed to support Israel isn’t necessarily clear.”
He added further, “On Sunday, Albanese said that ‘the evil that was unleashed at Bondi Beach today is beyond comprehension.’ In fact, it’s entirely comprehensible. For fanatics who have been led to believe that the Jewish state is the apotheosis of evil, killing Jews represents a twisted notion of justice. Even when the victims are unarmed civilians. Even when they are celebrating an ancient, joyful holiday.”
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Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. (David Gray/AFP via Getty Images)
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‘ Elizabeth Pritchett, Anders Hagstrom, and Greg Wehner contributed to this report.
