Israeli trauma team provides assistance to Sydney Hanukkah attack victims

Israel’s United Hatzalah Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit quickly provided emergency assistance to victims of the terrorist attack at Bondi Beach in Sydney. Two Islamist attackers murdered at least 15 Jews during a Hanukkah celebration, and dozens were injured, with several remaining in critical condition.

“Some of them are injured, but even the people who are not injured on their bodies, their souls are injured forever,” said Hadas Rucham, clinical director of the United Hatzalah Psychotrauma and Crisis Response Unit. “We saw this many times on October 7, the people who escaped Nova, and now we see it here. It is very sad."

“The community is very moved and embracing us,” Rucham revealed.

“We teach them that the trauma symptoms are normal immediately after the attack,” she explained. “We teach them how to ground themselves and techniques to see the big picture. You grow from the pain. You become more resilient."

Jewish Australians have faced an unprecedented 700% increase in antisemitic incidents since the Hamas Oct. 7 massacre in 2023. However, despite the anti-Jewish violence and the lethal terrorist attack, Rucham predicts that the Jewish Australian community will eventually become more resilient. 

“This community is strong and will grow,” she assessed.

The Israeli nonprofit rescue organization ZAKA has also dispatched volunteers to assist in Australia following the Bondi Beach attack. ZAKA has extensive rescue experience following many terrorist attacks in Israel. 

ZAKA’s chief Yossi Landau noted that the scene with dead bodies in Australia reminded him of terrorist attacks in the Jewish state. 

“It’s not easy,” Landau said after he and his team travelled 20 hours from Israel to Australia. 

“This should bring peace,” he continued. “That we are all unified together. We need to be united."

Israeli Diaspora Minister Amichai Chikli visited Australia to honor the victims of the antisemitic Sydney terrorist attack. 

"'Those who love the Lord hate evil...' Let those who seek to kill us know that we are proud to be enemies of evil," Chikli stated, quoting from a Jewish prayer. 

He also visited the Australian Israeli human rights activists Arsen Ostrovsky who was injured during the Bondi Beach attack. 

“Let our cowardly enemies – ‘brave’ only against unarmed civilians, women, the elderly, and children, hear this clearly: you will not defeat us. You will not wipe the smiles from our faces. And you will not extinguish the light of this holiday," Chikli stated in a social media post, alongside a photo with Ostrovsky in the hospital.

Australian authorities discovered ISIS flags belonging to the two Islamist terrorists who carried out the attack. Meanwhile, Israeli and Australian intelligence agencies are also probing whether the Islamic Republic of Iran was involved in the antisemitic terrorist attack in Australia. 

"In recent months, there has been a marked increase in activity by Iran and its proxies, the terrorist organizations Hezbollah and Hamas, aimed at carrying out attacks against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide,” an unnamed Israeli official recently told the news outlet Israel Hayom. 

“There is no doubt that the direction and infrastructure for the attack originated in Tehran,” the official added.

In August, Australia announced that it would expel the Iranian ambassador due to Tehran’s involvement in several antisemitic terrorist attacks on Australian soil.

"The Australian people want two things. They want killing in the Middle East to stop, and they don't want conflict in the Middle East brought here. Iran has sought to do just that," Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said at the time.