1982 Israel Consulate bombings: NSW State Coroner releases findings on Hakoah Club bombings
Disturbing details about the “ruthless” international terrorist group behind the 1982 bombings of two Jewish cultural centres in Sydney are at the centre of newly-released coronial inquiry findings.
Wentworth Courier
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Bombs detonated at the Israeli Consulate and the Hakoah Club in 1982 were built outside Australian borders by one of the world’s most deadly terrorist organisations, NSW Coronial findings released today have revealed.
NSW State Coroner, Teresa O’Sullivan, found both explosions were an act of international terrorism perpetrated by the “May 15” terrorist organisation with the assistance of one or more local supporters.
The findings also revealed the two bombs were constructed outside Australia by notorious “May 15” leader and founder, Hussayn Al-Umari (also known as Abu Ibrahim), who directed the attacks to take place.
The Coroner handed down her findings Friday on the 40th anniversary of the east Sydney bombings.
The official Coronial findings come decades on from the horrific terrorist attacks, which sparked extensive investigations into what were deemed to be acts of international terrorism motivated by Palestinian nationalism.
About 2pm on December 23, 1982, a bomb exploded directly in front of the Israeli consulate in Westfield Towers on William Street, Sydney. A number of people were injured by shrapnel and glass, and thrown across the room from impacts of the explosion.
Significant damage was caused to the building from the blast, including the internal stairs being reduced to rubble and a 30cm hole being blown through the concrete steel-reinforced floor.
About 6.45pm that same day a second explosive device was detonated in the boot of a Valiant parked at the Hakoah Club, 61-67 Hall Street, Bondi.
The Hakoah Club was hosting hundreds of competitors for the Maccabi Games at the time, while the device failed to detonate properly.
Police believe the intention was to collapse the building, and while no-one was directly injured, multiple cars were damaged.
The case was brought back to the fore in 2011, when investigators from the NSW Joint Counter Terrorism Team (JCTT) established Strike Force Forbearance to reinvestigate the bombings.
Forbearance detectives prepared a Coronial brief of evidence, which was heard as an Inquiry before Ms O’Sullivan.
Evidence submitted during the inquiry described “May 15” and Al Umari as the most “active, most dangerous and most ruthless of all terrorist organisations in the world” (at that time).
Further, International experts’ evidence indicated the bombs matched at least twenty other explosive devices either detonated or located around the world.
The 1982 bombings of the Israeli Consulate and Hakoah Club in Sydney remain unsolved. Police increased the reward for information from $100,000 to $1 million in December.
The United States’ Federal Bureau of Investigation currently has a $US 5 million reward offered for information leading directly to the apprehension or conviction in any country of Husayn Al Umari.
Counter Terrorism and Special Tactics Commander, Assistant Commissioner Mark Walton, welcomed Her Honour’s findings.
“Strike Force Forbearance detectives have dedicated countless hours over more than a decade to prepare the evidence to present to the NSW Coroner and are proud to have brought the investigation this far,” Assistant Commissioner Walton said.
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