U.S. National Intelligence Director Tulsi Gabbard has said Australia’s migration policy directly contributes to the Bondi terrorist attack, warning Western democracies about the growing threat of Islamist extremism.
Fifteen innocent people were killed in the mass shooting and dozens more injured on Dec. 14, when two gunmen opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s famous Bondi Beach.
Naveed Akram, 24, has been charged with 15 counts of murder after the attack, while his father, Sajid Akram, 50, was fatally shot by the police at the scene.
Gabbard said the attack was due to Australia taking in a lot of Islamist migrants, noting that it may be “too late” to fix the overall issue.
“The tragic Islamist terror attack against those at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia sadly should not come as a surprise to anyone,” she wrote on X.
“This is the direct result of the massive influx of Islamists to Australia.
“Their goal is not only the Islamisation of Australia but the entire world—including the United States.”
The tragic Islamist terror attack against those at a Hanukkah celebration in Australia sadly should not come as a surprise to anyone. This is the direct result of the massive influx of Islamists to Australia. Their goal is not only the Islamization of Australia but the entire…
— Tulsi Gabbard 🌺 (@TulsiGabbard) December 16, 2025
The comments followed the FBI’s successful disruption of an alleged terror bombing plot linked to an anti-government, pro-Palestinian group.
Gabbard’s message came laden with a grim warning for the West.
“Islamists and Islamism is the greatest threat to the freedom, security, and prosperity of the United States and the entire world,” she said.
“It is probably too late for Europe—and maybe Australia.
“It is not too late for the United States of America. But it soon will be.”
One factor Gabbard believed could help the United States was President Donald Trump’s focus on border security, including deporting known and suspected terrorists and halting mass, unvetted migration.
It’s About Radical Islam, Not Gun Control: US Senator
U.S. Senator Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said there was a problem with the Australian government’s response to the aftermath of the Bondi attack, that its focus on tightening gun control was misguided.
He noted that the West is currently “at war with radical Islam.”
“You make peace among Muslims that don’t want to kill you, and you fight the ones that do,” Graham said.
“So Australia’s got it … backward, it’s not a gun control problem folks.
“You’ve allowed ISIS to your country and never once did you promise to the Australian people you’re going to hunt these cells down and kill them off.”
Graham said Australian politicians should have visited the Philippines to investigate after it was revealed the Bondi shooters had trained with a branch of ISIS there.
He criticised Europe and Australia for not taking a more stringent approach against terror cells and national security.
“Western Europe and now Australia, you’re pathetically weak in the face of religious Nazis,” Graham said.
“Islamic state, Iraq, Syria, wants to purify Islam, kill all the Jews and kill us because we’re infidels. This is a religious war.”
Bomb Threat Foiled
On Dec. 15, the FBI announced it had arrested four people in the Mojave Desert over a plan to place bombs in two U.S. companies on New Year’s Eve.
Audrey Illeene Carroll, 30, Zachary Aaron Page, 32, Dante Gaffield, 24, and Tina Lai, 41, are alleged to be part of an anti-capitalist, anti-government, pro-Palestine collective.
“The Turtle Island Liberation Front … was preparing to conduct a series of bombings against multiple targets in California beginning on New Year’s Eve. The group also planned to target ICE agents and vehicles,” U.S. Attorney General Pamela Bondi said in a statement.
“This country protects the right to hold extreme views about its past, present, and future, but violence is an unmistakable and enforceable line.”
The FBI says the incidents would have been terror attacks, with sophisticated pipe bombs being employed in the planning.
It is alleged the group was in the desert to practice building and detonating the bombs.
Is Australia Doing Enough?
Speaking to media on Dec. 17, Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese defended his government’s approach to tackling extremism and anti-Semitism.
“Of course, you can always do more,” he said.
“But in the very morning after the Oct. 7 attack, I was on the Insiders program denouncing the attack, defending the right of Israel to defend itself.
“We went into the parliament and carried a bipartisan resolution that I think has stood the test of time.”
Albanese listed off having created the nation’s first anti-Semitism envoy, banning the Nazi salute, enhanced protection of Jewish communities, and an $18 million (US$11.9 million) donation to the Jewish Arts Quarter in Melbourne.
Meanwhile, the Opposition, including senior Liberal MP Michaelia Cash, has condemned the prime minister, saying he has failed to enact key recommendations made by his anti-Semitism envoy Jillian Segal and hasn’t acted adequately on radical extremism.
Cash says the Liberals would be willing to return to Canberra before Christmas in order to enact the recommendations.
“Mr. Albanese must implement the recommendations of the Segal review immediately,” she said.
“If this prime minister, who has already failed Australians manifestly, can’t implement these recommendations immediately and lead our nation in the fight against radical Islamic extremism, then quite frankly he should step aside for someone who’s willing to do so.”
In response to criticism of the government’s approach to the recommendations, which include adding holocaust education to the school curriculum, better visa screening, and better monitoring of anti-Semitic incidents, Albanese said it was not a “set and forget report.”
“Anti-Semitism has been around tragically for a very long period of time,” he said.
“We need to continue to work on the plan to combat anti-Semitism.”
When asked if more needed to be done to stop extremist clerics in Western Sydney from spreading hate speech, Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles said the Labor government had criminalised many forms of hate speech, including the Nazi salute.
“I emphasise that we have done more in terms of criminalising hate speech than we have seen from any other government but we need to look at all of this and we need to make sure we’ve got the right laws in place and that we are doing everything we can to keep safe the vibrant multicultural society that we have,” he told Sky News Australia.
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