Albanese said that Naveed Akram, one of the two shooters and an unemployed bricklayer, came into the Australian intelligence’s attention in 2019 but was not considered an imminent threat at the time
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has said that the shooters, a duo of father and son, of the Bondi Beach incident were motivated by “Islamic State ideology”.
Sajid Akram and his son Naveed opened fire on Jewish crowds thronging the famous beach for Hanukkah on Sunday evening, killing 15 people and wounding dozens more.
While their deeper motivations are unknown, authorities have said that the shooters wanted to instil fear among Australia’s Jewish community by carrying out the attack.
Albanese gave one of the first hints on Tuesday that the pair had been radicalised by an “ideology of hate”.
“It would appear that this was motivated by Islamic State ideology,” Albanese told national broadcaster ABC.
“With the rise of ISIS more than a decade ago now, the world has been grappling with extremism and this hateful ideology,” he said in a separate interview.
Albanese said that Naveed Akram, an unemployed bricklayer, came into the Australian intelligence’s attention in 2019 but was not considered an imminent threat at the time. Authorities are now facing mounting questions on whether the attack could have been foiled.
“They interviewed him, they interviewed his family members, they interviewed people around him,” Albanese said.
“He was not seen at that time to be a person of interest.”
Australia vows stricter gun laws
Australia’s leaders agreed on Monday to tighten laws that had allowed the father, Sajid, to own six firearms.
Mass shootings have been rare in Australia since 1996, when a lone gunman killed 35 people in the tourist town of Port Arthur. That massacre prompted a world-leading crackdown on gun ownership, including a national buyback scheme and restrictions on semi-automatic weapons.
The latest attack has also reignited allegations that Australia is moving too slowly in addressing antisemitism.
Israel reacts
Meanwhile, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Australia’s decision to recognise Palestinian statehood earlier this year had poured “oil on the fire of antisemitism”.
Oren Marmorstein, spokesperson for
Israel’s Foreign Ministry, spoke to CNN-News18, sharing concerns over targeted attacks against the Jewish community.
“Jews are being targeted,” Marmorstein said, adding that there appears to be a clear pattern behind the violence.
Marmorstein acknowledged that warnings had been issued to Australia about potential threats, but pointed out that calls for a global intifada were made openly on Australian soil, with large gatherings occurring despite the risks.
With inputs from agencies
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