FOI In Action: Standing Against Antisemitism in Australia w/ Les Crawford | January 17, 2026

Steve Conover: Happy 2026! Thank you for joining us for The Friends of Israel Today. I'm Steve Conover, executive director of The Friends of Israel. With me is our host and teacher, Chris Katulka.

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, Happy New Year! We're back in the studio here and we've got a great show for our audience. Maybe you remember back in December, Bondi Beach in Australia where there was an antisemitic attack on several Jewish people during a Hanukkah celebration. Well, today for our FOI In Action program, we have Les Crawford, who's the director of Friends of Israel Australia. He was just at Bondi Beach, laying flowers and thinking and praying about those who suffered under the antisemitism that just happened last December, and he's going to share about that experience and what's going on in Australia right now.

Steve Conover: But first in the news, widespread protests across Iran are increasingly targeting the nation's senior leadership with Iranian demonstrators openly calling for the removal of top officials and an end to the Islamic Republic's rule. The unrest fueled by economic hardship, political repression, and public anger over corruption has prompted sharp warnings from authorities and an intensified security crackdown.

Chris Katulka: Well, Steve, here's my take. Between water shortages in Iran, extreme inflation, and the humiliation of the 12-Day War against Israel, the Ayatollah's regime is dying and it's dying from the inside out. So let's pray that freedom rings loudly for the Iranian people who are longing for change. 

Chris Katulka: Well, it's a joy to have Les Crawford, who is the director of Australia for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. He leads a vibrant team of Friends of Israel representatives who are ministering all around Australia, investing in the Jewish community of Australia in various cities. And it's a joy to have you on with us today, Les. Thanks for being with us.

Les Crawford: Great to be with you, Chris. Wonderful to join you from afar.

Chris Katulka: Thank you so much. Yeah, we only have a sliver of time for all of our listeners. There's just a sliver of time that the Australians and us here in the US can connect with one another, and I'm thankful that it happened, But Les, I want to transition our conversation here to kind of a sad event that happened not long ago. It's December 14th, 2025. Just last month, a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi Beach turned into a horrific antisemitic attack. And so that's the reason we wanted to have you on today. And so from your vantage point in Australia, who's so close to the event, how would you describe what happened and why this moment has shaken the nation so deeply?

Les Crawford: Well, as you say, Chris, living in Australia, it's an event that has just marred the landscape of our country. I wasn't actually present when that event occurred. I was there with Elizabeth, my wife, on the following Thursday for a different event, another Hanukkah event. But as I heard the news, I was very shocked by the reality that 15 people were killed and many others were injured by two men, gunmen, well armed, sadly so, and father and son combination just shooting not randomly at all, but intentionally at the Jewish community gathered for that Hanukkah celebration, the opening of Hanukkah actually. And it's just so deeply shaken the nation because we don't have these events in Australia. I mean, mass shootings are so rare. I mean, the last significant one in Australia was in Port Arthur, which was a totally different type of event, but it was a very deadly event and the consequence of that was significant gun reform for our nation.

So our nation has generally got very good gun rules, but these two individuals had high powered weapons able to take out many lives, including a 10-year-old girl, Matilda. And it was targeted at the Jewish community. It wasn't just hitting anybody that happened to be there. It was focused on the Jewish community. So it was a really dramatic, deeply tragic attack on the Jewish community when they were celebrating with joy and at such a fun event. Bondi is such an iconic place in Australia. There’s a large Jewish community that lives in that area and oh boy, it has shaken the nation deeply. So much so that finally the Prime Minister has commissioned a Royal Commission into investigating what has led up to this event. How did this possibly happen? How did our security not pick it up? How was there not sufficient protection on the event at the time?

Our police are not heavily armed like they tend to be in the US. So responding to a situation like that takes a little longer when we get our more well-armed police engaged. So yeah, it was tragic, devastating, and it certainly continues to shake the Jewish community. And it's a culmination really of a lot of antisemitic activity in our nation since the massacre in Israel back in 2023.

Chris Katulka: This is kind of where I want to go next too, Les. You had mentioned your prime minister for a moment, but I saw an image or a video of a Chabad Rabbi, I believe with his daughter, that might've been Matilda that you were talking about who was laying tefillin on a particular individual Jewish man. And it was just moments before both of them were gunned down, but you could see the joy on this rabbi's face with his daughter who was there helping him. But many have described this attack as just some random violence, a random act of violence. Why is it important, especially as a representative of the Friends of Israel, to clearly name what happened at Bondi Beach as an antisemitic act and what kind of gets lost when we minimize or avoid claiming exactly what it is?

Les Crawford: It's a good point, Chris, because I think the political echelon in our country has been very soft towards the whole Islamic community because it's a voting cohort, particularly in Sydney. And so they have downplayed even the protests that were initiated only two days after the massacre by Hamas and Israel at the Sydney Opera House, pro- Palestinian protests. I've been involved in vigils in Adelaide and have pro- Palestinian protests engage with us, and they do so very intimidatingly. They do so very aggressively. And that kind of downplaying of the nature of those protests as being, "Oh, they're just anti-Israel." They're just against what Israel did, continuing in their war with Hamas in Gaza. It's actually much, much deeper than that. And what has happened in Australia is that the antisemitic attitude and perspective below the surface has come to the surface. And it's come to the point where there was violence against individuals, violence against institutions, and now it's become deadly.

And so you have to name it for what it is. This is Islamic-motivated hatred against the Jewish community. And as a result, two individuals were accessing high-powered weapons and able to kill 15, injured many others on that terrible evening. And you lose the real root problem if you don't identify the specifics of the event. And one of the things that is happening in Australia is the whole issue of hate speech, the whole issue of radicalization. All of those things are now on the surface and the general population doesn't want it. I mean, it's not Australian culture. We are very welcoming, accepting culture, and the idea of people being killed because of their ethnicity is just horrendous to Australians as a whole. But the political echelon is treading very carefully because they realize the cost either way. If they go too hard on one side, the whole voting block's going to be lost. If they go too soft, then another voting block is going to be lost. In fact, there's been a huge shift towards One Nation, which is a very conservative political party in our country. The liberals are losing votes, Labor are losing votes, and One Nation is now growing because people are fed up with a lack of action, a lack of clarity on these issues.

Chris Katulka: Les, we only have a few moments left here in the first segment, but I want to end our first segment with this. This isn't just an epidemic of Australia. I would actually argue a lot of the statistics of the hatred of the Jewish people, antisemitism, it's about the same across the board when it comes to Western nations. Australia, United States, Europe, Canada, all of us are seeing an increase of antisemitism that rises above 300%. And I know for the United States and in Australia as well, six out of 10 Jewish students say that their institutions, the colleges and universities that they go to, they don't feel supported. And they also don't feel like that these institutions, these colleges, universities, can even do anything about it. As a Friends of Israel rep, both of us on different sides of the world right now, different days even. What is going on? What are the issues at play right now where Western nations are dealing with this rise of antisemitism in your opinion? It's not just something we deal with here in the United States. It's on the other side of the world in Australia as well.

Les Crawford: Yeah. I think there's a number of factors, but one of the factors is that in the universities especially, there is a very clear narrative that is anti-colonialism. And so anybody that's identified as being sort of colonists, they become what you might say the victimizers and then the people that they've been present among are the victims. And so you get the situation of Israel are colonizers. How crazy is that? That's their ancient land from old. Westerners are colonizers. We have the challenge of Australia Day coming up on January the 26th, which is a celebration of our beginning as a full nation. And it's questioned because while you're a colonizing people.

So there's this narrative, but it then focused particularly on the Jewish people because historically they have always been viewed as the root cause of all the world's problems. There's been many, many lies told about the Jewish community. And of course, if you look at Islam and its history, Islamic history is very anti-Jewish and the history of the Jewish people in Islamic nations is horrendous. You just have to read of the exclusion of so many people from those Islamic nations around the time of Israel's formation. Jews were being pushed out front and center. And this is a part of our education system. We're not actually addressing the root issue in our education system. And our politicians don't seem to have the, I guess, the gumption, the commitment to say, look, let's deal with radicalism. Let's deal with antisemitism in the universities, in the colleges. And part of that is because funding for these things is coming from overseas.

There's lots of money being poured into the educational institutions by some of the Islamic nations of the world, particularly, of course, Qatar. So as we think of what can we do in response to that is you have to get to the root. And the root is in the university education system. And I know that is something that is a concern for the Jewish community because if a Jewish student doesn't feel safe, whether it's in primary school, high school or university, then the whole family doesn't feel safe. And the fruit of that is that we've had people leaving Australia, going to Israel because they don't want to live under the threat of what might happen to them as a family, particularly. But there is a movement pushing back against that in Australia, and I'm hopeful that that will see some very positive results.

Chris Katulka: But we've been talking with Les Crawford, who's the director of Australia for The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry, and he used the word gumption earlier. I might even use the word, Les, chutzpah. And so as we come back, we're going to talk a little bit more about the chutzpah that not only the politicians should maybe have in Australia and the Western nations, but even more so the churches and Bible-believing Christians who love the Jewish people should have the chutzpah to stand up for them as well. So stick around as we continue our discussion with Les.

Steve Conover: Chris, Psalm 23 is probably one of the most familiar and comforting passages in all of Scripture, but there's a lot of depth we often miss in God's Word.

Chris Katulka: And that's exactly why I love our new video series, Psalm 23: Ancient Hebrew Wisdom for Today. Dan Price, one of our great teachers here at The Friends of Israel, takes you verse by verse through David's most well-known Psalm and really opens your eyes to the richness of the shepherd imagery rooted in Israel's culture.

Steve Conover: In this video, you'll begin to see how personal this Psalm really is, how David's walk with the Lord as his shepherd points us directly to Jesus, our Good Shepherd.

Chris Katulka: And Steve, the companion Study Guide is excellent. It includes Scripture, background insights, and thoughtful questions, making it ideal for personal study, family devotions, or small groups in Sunday school.

Steve Conover: If you're looking for deeper trust and encouragement in your walk with the Lord, I can't recommend this study enough. 

Chris Katulka: So you can order your copy of the video series and Study Guide, Psalm 23: Ancient Hebrew Wisdom for Today at foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org. 

Chris Katulka: Welcome back, everybody. We are with Les Crawford, the director of our Australian ministry, the Friends of Israel's Australian Ministry, and he has an amazing ministry directing our representatives that are serving in all the major cities of Australia to the Jewish communities that are there, and also pouring themselves into local churches, teaching about the importance of Israel and the Jewish people. And Les, as the director of Friends of Israel Australia, you've personally visited the site and laid flowers. And so when you stood at Bondi Beach, because that's what we're talking about today, the antisemitic attack that happened at Bondi Beach, what were you thinking and feeling, and what did that moment communicate to you as the leader of Friends of Israel Australia?

Les Crawford: Yeah. Well, my wife Elizabeth and I were there. We walked from the road nearby across the bridge, which had been used as a firing point for those terrorists to where the memorial was. Huge, huge spread of flowers. There was already a group of Jewish students from a Jewish school that was part of doing some more memorial activities. And as I looked at that event, it just felt so surreal that there were bullets flying just a few days earlier, people were dying, people were injured, and it just felt very, very sad. And I felt very, very shamed really about what happened in my own country in the city of Sydney. Because Bondi Beach is a beautiful place. There are two memorials. There's another memorial that's very close to where the lifeguard station is because they were some of the first responders in this situation. And there was two large sheets actually with people's writing on it, sharing their heart concern.

And the nation has grieved over this event. And I was very grieved. In essence, you're sort of angry as well. You feel like, why could this not have been prevented? How did this be allowed to happen? But you could see it building up. I mean, that was the horrible thing about it. You could see the culture of hatred growing and growing and growing and getting more and more violent until eventually it became deadly. So I felt very grieved. I felt very sad, but I also felt that it was good to be able to be there, to be able to express our solidarity with the people, share our compassion and our condolences for those that lost lives and those that were still recovering even in hospital.

Chris Katulka: Les, after October 7th, there were many churches, pastors and believers who took action. They took action after October 7th when Hamas attacked Israel, killed 1,200 innocent Israelis, took hostage 250. But I also got a lot of word from Bible-believing Christians that their church didn't really do anything. They remained neutral about it. Of course, they were sad, but they remained neutral about it. My question is, how should churches, Christians, people of faith in the Lord Jesus, even in Australia, how can they stand genuinely with the Jewish people and confront antisemitism, get that chutzpah to confront antisemitism rather than just reacting to it?

Les Crawford: Yeah, I think you're right. It's not good enough to just say things. You have to do things. Now, you can do things in many ways. I mean, I encourage people when I go to churches to, if you know a Jewish person, reach out to them, give them a phone call, send them a message. If you're connected in any way to a Jewish community, do the same thing. Visit them, encourage them, express your care, your love, your compassion towards them. You can be practical, financial. We've got a fund that we've been raising funds for the Bondi victims through our website in Australia. And I think we've now raised over 15,000, probably coming close to $20,000 for helping practically, financially, because there are going to be needs that they have, which the government may not be able to cover entirely. But it just communicates. Even being present, Elizabeth and I were present at the Special Hanukkah Celebration on Thursday evening and just being there was amazing.

I mean, people said that…one lady just turned around and said, "Thank you.” Just for being there within the great synagogue in the middle of Sydney, an amazing building. So it's really getting a relationship with the Jewish community in whatever way you can. And then of course, you can obviously talk to your politicians, you can express your concerns to those who represent you in the political sphere, telling them that they need to do something practical, something positive, something decisive, which has happened in our country. That's why we're going to have this Royal Commission into this whole event. So people can pressure the politicians to action if sufficient numbers do so.

Chris Katulka: Les, I want to end with this question. How are Australians processing the Bondi Beach event, particularly within the Jewish community? Has anything changed in how Jewish Australians feel about safety, visibility, and the future of their presence within Australia?

Les Crawford: Well, it's been a growing reality for the Jewish community that they have felt unsafe, they've felt unprotected. They felt like if they don't do something for their own security, nobody else will. And partly that's been a result of allowing so much intense pro-Palestinian activity on the streets of our cities. That's communicated that. Well, now what's happened, of course, is that it's become deadly. And so you have individuals who say, "I don't feel that we could stay in Australia safely, but my children particularly.” If a child has to have security at their school, if a child has to be concealing their identity so that they're not seen to be Jewish, “Don't wear your school uniform or don't wear anything that represents your Jewish identity," that is a very serious concern. And that exists. I haven't yet had a chance to connect with the Jewish community services here in Adelaide. They've been closed over the Christmas/New Year period and I did communicate with them, but haven't heard back. I do know that the fear and the anxiety that people are feeling in the Jewish community is very palpable, very real. And so we need to counter that. We need to say, "No, we're going to do something about this. We're going to provide the security you need, the protection you need by dealing with the root issues." And that's the issue. Got to deal with the root issues, otherwise it's just going to flare up again and again and again.

Chris Katulka: Yeah. As we close here, I just want to say, I think in our first segment, I think Les nailed it. A lot of this antisemitism, a lot of the hatred of the Jewish people is not just coming from the radical Islamic groups, but also being bred and taught within universities. And that's why the local church is so important because it's there where you learn that God loves the Jewish people, where God made a promise to Abraham, "I will bless those who bless you and curse those who curse you. " And it's from there that a true love and a genuine compassion for the Jewish people can grow. And so that's why it's so important, I believe, to be supporting this kind of teaching, especially from The Friends of Israel. So if you would like to make sure that good biblical teaching about Israel and the Jewish people is happening in Australia, that's right, Down Under on the other side of the world, I want to encourage you to go to foi.org/crawford. foi.org/crawford because it's there that you can support Les and his work as he leads and guides the team that are really engaging in strategic ways within the Jewish community to let them know that there are friends who love them biblically. Again, that's foi.org/crawford. Les, thank you so much for being with us from Down Under and sharing with us about really the same issues that we deal with here too, the rise of antisemitism and the need to combat it. Thank you very much.

Les Crawford: You're welcome. Great to be joining you today.

Steve Conover: Thanks for joining us for today's episode of The Friends of Israel Today. Don't forget to pray for Christians in Australia that they will be a light and a friend to the Jewish community there. Chris, where are we headed next week?

Chris Katulka: Well, I'm excited because we're going to have Dr. Mark Hitchcock on, and he's going to be sharing about a new resource that's just been published that he wrote called The Revelation Answer Book: 125 Common Questions People Ask About Earth's Final Days. And it's going to be great to have Dr. Hitchcock on to share about this new resource that Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry is selling.

Steve Conover: We look forward to it. As mentioned, our web address is foiradio.org. Again, that's foiradio.org. Our mailing address is FOI Radio PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. Again, that's FOI Radio PO Box 914, Bellmawr, New Jersey, 08099. You can call our listener line. That number is 888-343-6940. Once again, that's 888-343-6940. Today's program was engineered by Bob Beebe, edited by Jeremy Strong, who also composed and performs our theme music. Lisa Small, she's our executive producer. Sarah Fern is our associate producer. Our host and teacher is Chris Katulka, and I'm Steve Conover, executive director of The Friends of Israel. The Friends of Israel Today is a production of The Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry. Passion for God's Word. Compassion for God's Chosen People.