I spoke with a survivor who was at Bondi Beach with his family for the first night of Chanukah when chaos erupted.

He and his wife and four kids were at the event, and suddenly it looked like fireworks ... but it wasn’t. “I just jumped in from the beach to meet my wife and my four kids… and it was like all of a sudden it looked like fireworks right in the middle,” one survivor told me.

At first, he thought the noise was harmless. But then the shooting didn’t stop. “I was telling my daughter to come down, looking for my other kids where they were and just running for cover. And there were shots all over, people jumping and everything. I’m very, very, very lucky. I just jumped the right direction with my daughter…”

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His 14-year-old son was caught nearby, witnessing someone shot right next to him. “He had blood on him… he ran to the RSL to get help,” the father recounted. Meanwhile, he was trying to locate his other children while holding his 11-year-old under a car for protection. “A bullet came to that car. I was putting her calm. And I’m trying to tell my wife to leave with the baby so I can run in to get my third, my other daughter.”

I caught up with Sydney rabbi Mendy Berger less than 24 hours after the Bondi Beach terror attack that left his family, friends and community shattered.

What he told me was raw, confronting and impossible to ignore.

👉 https://t.co/Z5GvPbQWps pic.twitter.com/gQeJt276BZ

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) December 16, 2025

For ten long minutes, there was no protection. “There was zero person there to help us… we were just ducks. Sitting ducks,” he said. When the police finally arrived, they moved slowly, and the shots continued. He eventually gathered his family and went back to find his son, seeing the carnage firsthand. “There were people, dead bodies, blood everywhere… I couldn’t believe it.”

He praised those who acted heroically, especially hero Ahmed Al-Ahmed, who tackled one of the gunmen to the ground and disarmed him. “If it wasn’t for him, there would have been so many more dead bodies there. He’s a hero,” he said.

Pauline Hanson quietly attended the Bondi terror attack memorial to pay her respects. What followed was an emotional reception that spoke volumes.

👉 https://t.co/Z5GvPbQWps pic.twitter.com/1o2qSPsQJo

— Avi Yemini (@OzraeliAvi) December 16, 2025

Despite the trauma, he remains resolute. “Peace and love will always overcome haters… We are strongly standing here in Bondi for life. I will not leave, and we will not be intimidated by such people.”