A clash between Jewish groups—primarily pro-Israel and anti-Zionist/pro-Palestinian factions—occurred at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on Sunday, September 7, 2025, during protests linked to the Israel-Gaza conflict.
The pro-Palestinian demonstration, organized mainly by “Jews Against the Occupation ’48” (JAO48), an anti-Zionist Jewish group and “Eastern Suburbs for Palestine,” was held in solidarity with the people of Gaza.The event featured symbolic acts like launching origami boats and a paddle-out but was staged in Bondi, a heavily Jewish suburb, on a day coinciding with Father’s Day in Australia.
Pro-Israel group Lions of Zion organized a counter protest, stating in a Instagram post that they would not allow “hate” or “support for terror” to be brought into their “backyard.”
Tensions escalated when pro-Israel supporters, waving Israeli and Australian flags, confronted the pro-Palestinian group.The situation turned physical, with shoving and shouting; police intervened to restore order, and videos show heated exchanges with chants like “go back to Lakemba” (a predominantly Muslim Sydney suburb).
A media release of the NSW Police says they are investigating the incident, looking to identify individuals involved in the brawl.
The full NSW Police media release.
In a statement emailed to SAT, Michelle Berkon, JAO48, tells about the incident as, “We were beginning to set up our banners and flags on the sand and lay out our origami boats. Some of our people were on the steps between the boulevard and the sand, others were on the sand already, when I received a phone call from the liaising police sergeant saying that “a thousand of them are coming” and he wasn’t sure if the police could protect us. We decided to continue with our peaceful action.
A mob of Zionists arrived, waving Israeli and Australian flags, shouting racist slurs, calling us “terrorists”, “rapists”, and “baby-killers”, and yelling at us to get “off the beach” and “go back to Bankstown” (a suburb with a strong migrant and Muslim population). They called anti-Zionist Jews “kapos” (Jews forced by the Nazis to bring Jews from selection areas into the gas chambers during the Nazi genocide). In a particularly nasty example of Zionist hatred, someone yelled at a three-year-old child that they should all be killed.”
Michelle adds: ” We continued our peaceful entev on the beach for about an hour, against a constant backgdrop of vile racist abuse, sometimes tinged with sexually suggestive or explicit language. People made origami boats, rode their surfboards, sang, and chanted for the people of Palesine. It was a beautiful gathering, where we all drew strength from our common humanity, and affirmed our determination to stand against genocide and ethnic cleansing and occupation and apartheid.
At the end of our event, the police advised us on how to leave the beach and surrounds safely, and continued to hold back the aggressors until we had safely dispersed. We will definitely return to Bondi Beach, as well as to other beaches and parks around Sydney and beyond.
For Jewish Zionists to claim that any suburb is “their territory” reflects not only their celebration of Jewish supremacy in occupied Palestine, but their contempt for First Nations Peoples of this country, upon whose land all Australian settlers and immigrants live.
Alongside the Jewish Zionists were people who had attended the anti-immigrant, pro-White Australia ‘March for Australia’ the previous weekend.”
Analysts believe the Bondi beach clash reflects growing tensions and divisions within Sydney’s Jewish community—and the broader public—over the ongoing Israel-Gaza conflict since October 2023.
