The fact is that both federal and state authorities have been scrambling to overhaul security operations in response to the Bondi Beach shootings and indications since suggest they had dropped the ball comprehensively in the years before.
The various inquiries that have been set in train will undoubtedly examine why authorities failed to predict the potential problems with the Hanukkah celebration, but the rise of ranting hate preachers was not a bolt from the blue.
Obviously, these men and their hate groups do not represent mainstream Islam. The Herald revealed last month that as far back as a decade ago, senior members of Sydney’s Muslim community had urged police to take action against Haddad.
The Hamas massacre of Jewish people in Israel on October 7, 2023, and the Israeli government’s response, have inflamed hatreds and passions across the globe. But Haddad and his ilk have been a predictable and persistent problem in Sydney that authorities failed to address despite continuing warnings from the very community they targeted with hate.
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