‘This is part of our history now’: How Bondi plans to rebuild after horror

The Liberal mayor in charge of Bondi says all levels of government must unite across political divides to help the community heal and prevent another tragedy, as the council considers how to memorialise the massacre at Australia’s most famous beach.

As federal Coalition politicians seized the terrorist shooting to criticise Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s government for not doing enough to combat antisemitism, Will Nemesh, the Jewish mayor of Waverley who for months sounded the alarm about rising violence directed at his community, has taken a different approach.

Nemesh has urged a nonpartisan response from local, state and federal governments – and broader society – to combat antisemitism without stoking further division as the Bondi and Jewish communities attempt to rebuild.

“This is part of our history now, and I think what we do next is extremely important. For our community, ‘never again’ can’t just be words, it needs to be action.

“Our next steps will really define how we are, and who we are, as a nation. It’s going to be a moral imperative, and it needs to rise well above politics.”

The council will reconvene in mid-January to discuss matters related to the shooting, including a possible permanent memorial to victims, and the future of the footbridge where two gunmen fired at the Hanukkah event in Archer Park on December 14.

This month’s shooting that killed 15 innocent people and injured dozens has become a lightning rod for worldwide debate about antisemitism and safeguarding the Jewish community.

For Nemesh, who started a two-year term as mayor in 2024, it has also been deeply personal. He has lived in Waverley most of his life and knew rabbis Eli Schlanger and Yaakov Levitan, who died in the shooting.

Antisemitic episodes in the Waverley area – where about 16 per cent of residents identify as Jewish – prompted councillors in March to adopt a model antisemitism strategy for local councils. The plan aimed to educate local communities on how Jew hatred manifested, how to respond to antisemitic attacks, and ways in which they could boost social cohesion.

The month prior, Nemesh, Liverpool’s Ned Mannoun and Inner West’s Darcy Byrne, hosted a roundtable to discuss with 20 mayors from across Sydney how they could protect citizens from antisemitic vandalism, graffiti and threats.

“What this [terrorist attack] has shown is, even with the best endeavours of different leaders at different levels, we’ve clearly not done enough. I think all of us collectively need to acknowledge that, and see where we can improve, and do better, so this doesn’t happen again,” Nemesh said.

Nemesh said Albanese had phoned him last Thursday to offer his solidarity and support, and the pair had “a very forthright discussion”. “My sense was that he recognises the challenges that we’re facing,” Nemesh said.

He would not be drawn on state or federal politicians’ responses to antisemitism, or the mass shooting, but stressed he now wanted to see “leadership at all levels working cohesively and constructively together”.

“I think that’s going to help our community pull together and get through this. If we create division, that is only to our detriment.”

Nemesh said reforms related to gun control, hate speech and protests were matters for state and federal governments, but councils had a crucial role in setting the tone for how communities functioned and interacted.

“The scourge of antisemitism must be defeated, and that will take all levels of government, civil society, everybody to make a concerted effort in our schools, universities and workplaces to call out not just antisemitism, but racist, extremist ideology.”

Waverley Council has urged visitors to return to Bondi to help small businesses and the community to recover. The council said staff were working closely with the Jewish community and other residents on numerous ideas for a potential permanent tribute or memorial to honour the victims and survivors of the shooting.

“There are many ideas, and this process will take time,” a council spokesperson said.

The council also said it was aware of numerous views regarding the future of the footbridge where gunmen Naveed, 24, and Sajid Akram, 50, stood as they fired at the crowds; however, no decisions had been made.

“Any decision-making regarding the bridge will require consultation from the Jewish community, the Waverley community, the families of the victims and the NSW government. As an interim measure, signage on the footbridge will remind passersby to be respectful,” the spokesperson said.

Nemesh had been due to speak at the Chanukah by the Sea event targeted in the attack, but could not attend for family reasons. Instead, he spent many hours fielding phone calls from panic-stricken friends caught up in the attack as the council tried to ensure staff, particularly lifeguards who had rushed to help the victims, were safe.

He said survivors and the community faced a long, difficult road as they grappled with the “grief, shock and devastation” of losing “15 beautiful souls … in the most horrific of circumstances”. But he praised Bondi residents for responding to the attack with an “outpouring of love, strength and resilience”.

“We’re an incredibly close community, the Waverley community, but especially the Jewish community. Everyone knows someone affected, directly or indirectly.

“We were all there for one another, and that’s extraordinary for a community to go through all it did to be as resilient as it has.”

Nemesh said the outpouring of support from across the nation, particularly those who visited the flower memorial at the Bondi Pavilion after the attack, had been “deeply moving, and also deeply powerful”.

“That was a microcosm of what we need to do to get through this: to be there for one another, be kind, be compassionate, check in on our friends, our neighbours, even strangers, and ask them how they’re doing,” Nemesh said.

“Hanukkah is the story of light triumphing over darkness, and we need to make sure our good deeds and light shine brightly and drown out that darkness that has occurred.”

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