BBC star sparks outrage as he urges ‘think of impact on Muslim community’ after Bondi Beach shooting

At least 16 people, including the gunman, were killed during celebrations marking the first day of Hanukkah, with a further 40 people taken to hospitals across Sydney, including a child.

A second gunman remains in a serious condition.

NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said authorities would “leave no stone unturned” as they investigate the possibility of a third suspect, adding that officers are “thoroughly” examining whether others were involved.

Premier Chris Minns said the attack appeared to be “designed to target Sydney’s Jewish community”.

Mr Robinson, a British journalist who has presented BBC Radio 4’s Today programme since 2025, took to X on Monday to share his reaction to the unfolding events.

“The news from Bondi Beach is grim,” he wrote.

“For many, it will have terrible echoes of the massacres on October 7.

“For Jews living here, it will feel painfully close to the murders at a synagogue in Manchester.”

He continued: “It is a reminder – if one was needed – that Jews all over the world now live in fear.

“If you struggle to understand that fear – you may not have any Jewish family or friends as it is a very small community – I urge you to think of the impact on the Muslim and, indeed, the wider community of the Christchurch mosque attack in New Zealand.

The news from Bondi beach is grim.
For many it will have terrible echoes of the massacres on October 7th.
For Jews living here it will feel painfully close to the murders at a synagogue in Manchester.
It is a reminder - if one was needed - that Jews all over the world now live…

— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) December 14, 2025

“Tonight Jews everywhere will light candles to mark the start of the festival of lights – Hanukkah. Few will feel able to.”

The post quickly sparked backlash, with many social media users accusing Robinson of making a “misjudged” comparison.

“I realise your mind is conditioned by years on the BBC, but even if your comparison was accurate, which it isn’t, today is not the day to mention it,” one critic wrote.

Another added: “Several Jews have just been murdered – presumably by radical Islamists. Do you really have to compare it to a previous attack on Muslims?”

Others accused the presenter of failing to simply condemn the attack outright, with one writing: “That’s a very strange, waffly take. Why don’t you have the courage to condemn this heinous attack in the strongest terms?”

Some went further, accusing Robinson of shifting the narrative away from Jewish victims.

“Why are Jewish people never allowed the dignity of mourning without it becoming an exercise in moral relativism?” one user asked.

In response to the backlash, Mr Robinson later issued a follow-up statement on X, saying he was “sad” that his comments had prompted anger.

He explained that his post was intended to help those outside the Jewish community understand the fear the attack would reinforce, adding that the Christchurch comparison was not meant to diminish Jewish suffering.

“It wasn’t an attempt to lessen the pain, fear and anger so many feel or to equate losses in one community with those in another,” he wrote.

Mr Robinson added that the Jewish community in the UK numbers fewer than 250,000 people, arguing it was the “job, maybe even the duty” of public figures like himself to explain the wider impact of such attacks.

He also revealed that he is Jewish by heritage, though not by upbringing.

Meanwhile, journalists and commentators across the political spectrum have expressed horror at the attack, with widespread praise for a man described as a “hero” after intervening during the incident.

Footage filmed by an eyewitness appears to show the man grappling with an alleged gunman and wrestling the weapon from him.

GB News presenter Ben Leo wrote on X: “Holy s***. Just waking up in America to news of Bondi Beach. Stunned… again. I’m sorry, Australia. I love you. And well done, that MAN who tackled the SOB terrorist. Shame our political leaders don’t share the same balls.”

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