Women egged at Bondi Beach, ASPI accused PM of ‘systemic abdication of responsibility’

Six women, believed by their attackers to be Jewish, have been egged at the nation’s most iconic beach in a disturbing escalation of the anti-Semitism crisis.

Police and forensics at the scene of the graffiti attack in the Sydney suburb of Kingsford. Picture: NewsWire / Simon Bullard.

Six women, believed by their ­attackers to be Jewish, have been egged at the nation’s most famous beach in a disturbing escalation of the anti-Semitism crisis, as the head of the country’s premier ­national security think tank ­accuses the Albanese government of a “systemic abdication of ­responsibility”.

The women, all aged in their 20s, were walking along Glenayr Ave – parallel to Bondi Beach – about 9.30pm on Saturday when eggs were thrown at them by three young men, seemingly out of the car window.

Only one woman was hit, police said.

Those three men then abandoned their beat-up silver Mazda in Rose Bay about half an hour later, leaving the keys in the ignition, after the vehicle crashed into kerb. Inside the vehicle was a carton of free-range eggs, an empty egg carton, and a jerry can with no fuel in it.

Detective Superintendent Darren Newman, commander of Strike Force Pearl, speaks to the press outside Surry Hills Police Centre. Picture: NewsWire/Simon Bullard

Strike Force Pearl Commander Darren Newman said they were treating the incident as an anti-Semitic attack. He did not reveal whether the women were Jewish, but the reason it was being treated as an anti-Semitic attack “potentially was the clothing worn by those ladies as to why they were targeted”. Detective Superintendent Newman urged the three men to “come forward straight away, because we will track you down”.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip called the reported attack “truly grotesque and depraved”.

“Throwing eggs at innocent women simply because they’re Jewish is beyond contemptible,” Mr Ossip said. “It is essential that the alleged offenders face the full force of the law.”

Anti-Semitic graffiti sprayed on See Lane in Kingsford overnight. Picture: Supplied

Meanwhile, 20 investigators scoured Kingsford and nearby Randwick in inner southeast Sydney after anti-Semitic graffiti was scrawled on cars, homes and ­garage doors on Saturday night. And in the Perth suburb of Dalkeith, home to mining billionaires and some of the city’s most successful businesspeople, a swastika and the phrase “F..k Jews” was spray painted on the front wall of a residence.

The latest attacks came as Justin Bassi, director of the Australian Strategic Policy Institute, which is set to have its funding cut by the federal government, made extraordinary comments accusing ­Anthony Albanese of adding “confusion, anxiety and speculation” by refusing to say when he first learned about a explosive-laden caravan found in Dural.

“Albanese’s refusal to address questions about the explosives-laden caravan, dismissing them due to ‘ongoing investigations’, added to confusion, anxiety and speculation. A stonewalled public is not a secure one,” Mr Bassi writes in The Australian.

The Coalition on Sunday demanded an independent inquiry into the apparent failure to brief Mr Albanese and cabinet on the caravan incident, along with mandatory sentences for terrorists and a new national anti-Semitism taskforce to replace the current federal police operation.

Anti-Semitic grafitti on Viking Road, Dalkeith, in the heart of Perth's golden triangle of real estate. Picture: Supplied

Anti-semitic graffiti sprayed on See Lane in Kingsford, Sydney.

Former treasurer Josh Frydenberg said the government must use parliament this week to stop the crisis once and for all. “Melbourne. Sydney. Perth. More attacks in the last 24 hours. The epidemic of Jew Hate is a national crisis. With federal parliament resuming this week, the government must act and stop this domestic terrorism. This is Australia’s fight and we all have a right to be safe,” Mr Frydenberg said.

ASPI was founded by the government in 2001 to help develop national security policy and receives about $8m a year in taxpayer funding. A review released in December recommended funding for ASPI’s Washington office be cut and a government observer be put on its board, which were agreed to by the government in full or in principle. It was criticised as a potential curtailing of think tanks’ research on China.

Mr Bassi, a former Liberal Party adviser appointed to lead ASPI by the Morrison government, writing in The Australian on Monday, goes as far as linking the government’s reticence to discuss national security threats to silence in the face of the crimes of Nazi Germany. “They say silence breeds contempt but the reticence of the Australian government about national security threats is more akin to the quote attributed to (legendary philosopher) Dietrich Bonhoeffer when resisting Nazi Germany: that ‘silence in the face of evil is itself evil’,” Mr Bassi says.

Head of ASPI Justin Bassi.

Mr Albanese has met Jewish leaders at least nine times since the October 7, 2023, massacre, including several Holocaust memorials. He has also visited the scenes of anti-Semitic attacks including this month’s assault on a Sydney childcare centre and last month’s firebombed Melbourne synagogue. Labor has in recent months set up a federal police taskforce on anti-Semitic crime, appointed Jillian Segal as special envoy against anti-Semitism, outlawed Nazi symbols, increased security funding for Jewish places of worship and schools and criminalised doxxing.

The government on Sunday still refused to say when Mr Albanese was advised on the caravan plot by authorities, amid reports both he and the national ­security committee of cabinet only learnt about the discovery on Wednesday, just before it was made public.

Peter Dutton has claimed NSW Police may not have told the Prime Minister’s office about the caravan allegations out of concern it may have leaked the details of the investigation. The Australian understands NSW Police does not brief the Prime Minister on local matters, and it is the responsibility of federal counterparts. NSW Police and the AFP refused to comment on Sunday.

Mr Bassi said Mr Albanese’s refusal to reveal when he was briefed on the foiled attack was part of a wider trend in Labor’s failure to contain the wave of anti-Jewish hate in Australia over the past 18 months. “The pattern of evading, ignoring or downplaying security threats is itself a security threat. It erodes public trust — and cynicism can quickly turn to conspiracy,” Mr Bassi writes.

“The government’s systemic abdication of responsibility, cloaked in silence and evasive justifications, is not a one off relating to the caravan plot against Australia’s Jewish community but a troubling trend, exemplified by the tactic of Prime Minister Albanese and ministers only commenting if asked by media and, even then, answering with non-statements.”

A spokesperson for the Prime Minister said Mr Albanese had “repeatedly said that he does not comment on operational matters regarding national security, and that he is regularly briefed by our national security agencies”.

“Every single time Peter Dutton plays politics with this issue he is undermining the good work of the police, who we fully support,” the spokesperson said.