Australia is missing the real story behind the Bondi Beach attack by focusing on guns instead of what she called "blatant Jew hatred," Ruthie Blum, a former adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said on Newsmax, Tuesday.
"Listen, you know, the left always blames guns when there's Islamist terrorism or any kind," Blum told "Newsline."
More details have emerged about what Australian authorities described as a horrific antisemitic attack at Sydney's Bondi Beach where 15 people were killed.
Australian officials have said a father and son were suspects and were believed to be motivated by Islamic State ideology.
Authorities have also said homemade Islamic State flags were found in a car registered to one of the suspects.
Investigators are examining the pair's recent travel to the Philippines, a trip last month that remains under investigation.
In a message to the country aired during the segment, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged Australians to come together and said terrorists seek to create division and undermine social cohesion.
Blum rejected that framing. "His statement was just so pathetic," Blum said.
"I mean, what he said was terrorists seek to sow division, societal division or social division," she added. "That's nonsense.
"These are Islamist terrorists, by the way."
Blum said the threat extends well beyond one group label and reflects a broader ideology she believes targets the West.
"What does he think 'globalize the intifada' means? What does he think his beloved Palestinian state would look like? It would look like that," she said.
"It doesn't matter that it's ISIS or Hamas or Hezbollah or the Houthis or Iran," Blum contended. "There are Sunnis, there are Shiites.
"The radicals want to destroy the West. They want to kill Jews, and they want to kill Christians."
Blum pointed to what she said are long-standing warnings from Israel, including intelligence about Iranian-linked threats, and urged governments to take them seriously.
"Well, two things: One is that Prime Minister Netanyahu didn't just make a little statement," she said. "The Israeli Mossad warned the Australian government that there were Iranian cells — that there was an imminent danger."
"So first of all, my first piece of advice is to all governments to heed warnings because when the Islamists tell you they're going to do something, they do it," Blum added.
She also addressed reports of rising antisemitic incidents elsewhere, including an episode on the New York City subway in which Orthodox Jewish men were harassed during Hanukkah.
Blum said Jewish communities should also reconsider their political instincts in response to escalating threats.
"No. 2: I would advise Jews to stop being so liberal," she said. "Jews are also the ones who right away blame guns."
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