The vow by the prime minister of Australia, Anthony Albanese, to take “immediate action” on gun control in the wake of the Hanukkah slaughter on Bondi Beach strikes us as the wrong response to the worst massacre of Jews since October 7. Mr. Albanese called for “strong, decisive and focused action.” One proposal being mooted is to allow only Australians to buy a firearm, though Australia already has draconian gun laws. 

The problem Down Under is not guns but hatred of Jews. It has spread like bushfire in the Outback. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry reckons that  “We are now at a stage where anti-Jewish racism has left the fringes of society and become part of the mainstream, where it is normalized and allowed to fester and spread … Jews have legitimate concerns for their physical safety and future in Australia.”

Israel’s foreign minister, Gideon Sa’ar, says j’accuse to Mr. Albanese. He writes on X that the blood on Bondi Beach is the “results of the antisemitic rampage in the streets of Australia over the past two years.” He adds that “the Australian government, which received countless warning signs, must come to its senses.” Another leader of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, ventures that antisemitism is “off the scale — at a level we’ve never seen.”  

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu adds in a statement to Mr. Albanese that “you replaced weakness with weakness and appeasement with more appeasement. Your government did nothing to stop the spread of antisemitism in Australia. You did nothing to curb the cancer cells that were growing inside your country.” Even Mr. Albanese has been forced to admit that Iran has gained an operational foothold in the country.

The premier of New South Wales, Chris Minns, tells  the Australian Broadcasting Corporation that he wants “to introduce the toughest gun legislation in the country.” No less a proponent of gun control than President Obama has celebrated Australia’s gun control regime. One of the shooters at Bondi Beach, police have shared, was a licensed firearms holder. The attack on Hanukkah was the worst in 30 years. 

Australia lacks America’s Constitution, which prohibits infringing on the right of the people to bear arms. Australian Jews could reason that with the emergence of a complaisant Canberra they need to take their defense into their own hands. American Jews, also facing a wave of hate, could be on a similar trend. Mayor-elect Zohran Mamdani condemned the Australian attacks, but New Yorkers could soon be faced with a hostile Gracie Mansion.

If Mr. Albanese wants to unwind his country’s spiral into antisemitism, he could admit that his country’s endorsement of a state for the Palestinian Arabs arises from, and has contributed to, the climate of contempt toward Jews. So far he has refused to do so, inviting more violence. The lesson of Bondi Beach is hardly confined to Australia. The West’s inability to frame accurately the issue of antisemitism renders it unequipped to address the scourge.