Security officials: Mossad passed multiple warnings to Australia over threats to Jewish community

Security officials told KAN News today (Sunday) that the Mossad had passed numerous warnings to Australia regarding concerns over potential attacks against the Jewish community.

In his speech today in Dimona, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed the attack in which at least 16 people were killed and dozens wounded in Sydney. Netanyahu said:

“Three months ago, I wrote a letter to the prime minister of Australia: ‘Your policies are pouring fuel on the hatred of Jews spreading in Australia. Antisemitism is a cancer that spreads when leaders remain silent and fail to act.’”

The prime minister added, “We are engaged in a battle against global antisemitism, and there is no alternative but to denounce it and fight it. That is what we are doing with the government and the IDF. We will continue to denounce those who refuse to denounce. We will not bow our heads and will continue to fight, just as our Hasmonean forefathers did.”

In a media briefing held a short time ago, the local police commissioner denied the existence of prior intelligence regarding the attack:

“If the police had possessed intelligence information, we would have acted with a firm hand. It is still too early to point an accusing finger,” he said.

However, Australian Security Intelligence Organization (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess said that one of the shooters had been known to authorities, though not as an immediate threat. “We need to see what happened here,” he said.

President Isaac Herzog also accused the Australian government, saying, “We warned repeatedly of the need to uproot the criminal and spreading antisemitism in their country.”

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar said the attack was the result of “the unchecked antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years, with antisemitic and inciting chants. The Australian government, which received countless warning signs and failed to take sufficient measures, must come to its senses.”