Day 802 - Heroism amid horror at Hanukkah Bondi terror attack
The Times of Israel Daily Briefing
The Times of Israel
4.5 • 1.1K Ratings
🗓️ 16 December 2025
⏱️ 26 minutes
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Summary
Welcome to The Times of Israel's Daily Briefing, your 20-minute audio update on what's happening in Israel, the Middle East and the Jewish world.
Editor David Horovitz joins host Amanda Borschel-Dan for today's episode.
On Sunday evening, a radicalized father and son targeted the annual “Chanukah by the Sea” event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach and killed at least 15, after firing some 50 shots at the 1,000-strong crowd. Another 38 people were wounded, including two police officers. This morning, Australian officials confirmed they believe it was “a terrorist attack inspired by Islamic State.” Horovitz updates us on this confirmation and other newly uncovered information about the gunmen's plot.
Newly discovered dashcam footage shows one of the increasingly exposed examples of ordinary citizens willing to take on the attackers. Boris and Sofia Gurman confronted the father and son gunmen after the murderous pair parked their ISIS-flag-draped car. Both Gurmans were shot dead. We hear other moving stories of valor.
In the wake of the attack — the second-worst mass shooting in Australia’s history -- Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is pushing for stricter gun control. Yesterday, Albanese rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s assertion that his government’s recognition of Palestinian statehood earlier this year “pours fuel” on an “antisemitic fire.”
Horovitz explains how many Australian Jews feel government authorities have not done enough to stamp out hatred of Jews in Australia, which has allowed it to fester in the aftermath of October 7. Among his proposals, spelled out in an op-ed on The Times of Israel, is for a large-scale educational reboot to teach children tolerance alongside reading, writing and arithmetic.
Finally, we turn to the heartbreaking murder of Rob Reiner and his wife Michele. The Reiners’ son, Nick Reiner, was in police custody Monday for what investigators believe was the fatal stabbing of his parents at their Los Angeles home a day earlier, police said. Horovitz shares until-now unpublished pieces from a The Guardian interview with the director-actor dating from February 2024, in which Reiner stated, "Right now the world is shifting away from Israel – and that to me is very sad."
Check out The Times of Israel's ongoing liveblog for more updates.
For further reading:
Aim, fire, kill a Jew, reload… How to turn back the rising tide of murderous inhumanity
Australian officials: Bondi terror attack inspired by ISIS, bombs found in shooters’ car
Australian PM rejects Netanyahu’s linking of Palestine recognition to Bondi attack
Jewish donors help raise $1.3m for the Muslim man who disarmed a Bondi Beach attacker
Daughter of Holocaust survivor shot in attack: Antisemitism ‘allowed to fester’ in Australia
Rob Reiner’s son arrested as suspect in murder of parents at LA home
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IMAGE: Candles burn in front of mourners as they gather at a tribute at the Bondi Pavilion in memory of the victims of a terror attack against Jews during a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, in Sydney on December 16, 2025. (SAEED KHAN / AFP)
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Transcript
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| 0:00.0 | Welcome to the Times of Israel's daily briefing. |
| 0:06.3 | Today's Tuesday, December 16th, Day 802 of the War. |
| 0:11.4 | I'm Amanda Warshall Dan here with our editor, David Horowitz. |
| 0:14.5 | David, thank you so much for joining me from Jerusalem. |
| 0:17.5 | Hi, Amanda, sure. |
| 0:18.7 | We are going to discuss the fallout, which continues to be uncovered |
| 0:22.6 | after the massive terrorist attack on the iconic Bondi beach in Sydney, Australia, that saw |
| 0:29.2 | some 15 slaughtered and almost 40 wounded at Hanukkah celebrations. In today's episode, we're |
| 0:36.6 | going to learn about the heroes who use |
| 0:38.6 | their own bodies to shield others, and we'll hear that Australian officials are now considering |
| 0:44.2 | this attack tied to ISIS. To end with, we will speak about beloved filmmaker and actor Rob Reiner, |
| 0:51.3 | who was murdered alongside his wife, Michelle, on Sunday. All of this and more when we're back. |
| 1:02.4 | This episode is brought to you by the Jewish Communal Fund, the largest and most active Jewish |
| 1:08.2 | donor-advised fund in the country. What is a donor advised fund? |
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| 1:30.4 | JCF makes it simple to manage your philanthropy, |
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| 1:40.6 | In fact, JCF fundholders granted over $1 billion to charities they care about in 2025 alone. |
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