'Feel the weight': Australian PM apologises to Jewish community after Bondi Hanukkah shooting

Australia’s Prime Minister Anthony Albanese on Monday issued a formal apology to the country’s Jewish community following a mass shooting that targeted a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people, as police revealed new details about the planning behind the attack and transferred the lone surviving suspect to jail.

Addressing the nation, Albanese said he felt a deep sense of responsibility for the attack.
“As Prime Minister, I feel the weight of responsibility for an atrocity that happened whilst I’m Prime Minister, and I’m sorry for what the Jewish community and our nation as a whole has experienced,” he said.

He added that the government would take sustained action to safeguard Jewish Australians.
“The government will work every day to protect Jewish Australians, to protect the fundamental right as Australians that they have to be proud of who they are, to practice their faith, to educate their children and to engage in Australian society in the fullest way possible,” he said.

More from World

Bondi beach shooting: Albanese announces national buyback campaign to take 'dangerous guns off streets' Bondi Beach attack: PM Albanese says shooters were motivated by 'Islamic State ideology'

Police outline planning behind Bondi attack

Court documents released on Monday alleged that two men accused of carrying out the deadly shooting trained for the attack in the Australian countryside. Police said Sajid and Naveed Akram, a father-and-son duo accused of the killings, also conducted a “reconnaissance” visit to Bondi Beach just days before the shooting.

Australian police confirmed that the only surviving suspect, 24-year-old Naveed Akram, was transferred from hospital to jail on Monday after being held under guard since the attack. He faces multiple charges, including terrorism and 15 murders, police said in a statement.