British-born Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among those killed in the Sydney attack, his family said, as quoted by the BBC.
In October, Rabbi Schlanger gave an interview to the “Australian Jewish News“ after the attack at a synagogue in Manchester.
Schlanger, who told the newspaper that his great-uncle Leslie was a rabbi at that synagogue for more than 35 years, was asked if he was worried about a similar attack in Australia.
He replied that he had “complete trust in Hashem (the traditional Hebrew name for God – ed.) that nothing would happen“.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the deadly shooting and said he had warned his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese, who supports the creation of a Palestinian state, that he was fueling anti-Semitism, Reuters reported.
Netanyahu called the shooting “cold-blooded murder“ and added that in August he had written to the Australian prime minister that Australian government policies were promoting and encouraging anti-Semitism in the country.
„I wrote: „Your call for a Palestinian state fuels the fire of anti-Semitism. It is a reward for the terrorists of „Hamas“. It emboldens those who threaten Australian Jews and encourages the hatred of Jews that now lurks on your streets,“ the Israeli prime minister said in his statement.
On August 11, Albanese said that Australia would recognize a Palestinian state at the UN General Assembly in September – a move that followed similar moves by France, Britain and Canada.
In his remarks today, Netanyahu accused the Albanese government of “doing nothing to stop the spread of anti-Semitism in Australia“.
“You allowed the disease to spread and the result is the horrific attacks on Jews that we saw today,“ he added.