A prominent Jewish bakery in Sydney has announced its permanent closure in the aftermath of the Bondi Junction terror attack, declaring it is no longer possible to keep publicly Jewish spaces safe in Australia.
A Heartbreaking Decision After 'Pogrom'
Avner's Bakery in Surry Hills, run by celebrity chef Ed Halmagyi, known as 'Fast Ed', closed its doors for good on Wednesday. The decision came just days after the deadly attack at a Hanukkah celebration in Bondi, which the bakery's owners described as a 'pogrom'. A notice posted on the shop window from 'Ed and the Avner's team' stated the world had changed.
The message read: 'In the wake of the pogrom at Bondi one thing has become clear – it is no longer possible to make outwardly, publicly, proudly Jewish places and events safe in Australia.' It explained that after two years of sustained antisemitic harassment, vandalism, and intimidation, the threats were now too serious to ignore.
Years of Antisemitic Harassment Culminate
The bakery's closure follows a long campaign of abuse directed at the business. Halmagyi has documented numerous incidents since opening, including:
- Threatening notes shoved under the door.
- Graffiti and vandalism targeting the premises.
- Ongoing intimidation of staff and customers.
In an Instagram post in October last year, Halmagyi shared an image of a note reading 'Be Careful' in shaky handwriting, commenting it represented 'Being Jewish in Sydney, 2024 edition'. Despite initially vowing not to be intimidated by what he called 'inner-city middle-class Cosplay Radicals', the Bondi attack forced a reassessment.
'After two years of almost ceaseless antisemitic harassment... we have to be realistic about the threats that exist going forwards,' the closure notice stated. 'Those concerns are now clearly more pressing and more serious. Even in the wake of this terrorist incident, threats have continued.'
An Open Business Unable to Guarantee Safety
The final statement highlighted the specific vulnerability of the bakery as an open, public venue. 'As an open and very public business that operates at all hours, we are unable to ensure the safety of our staff, our customers, our families,' it read.
This led to the 'only decision available', one that 'truly breaks our hearts'. A man outside the shop on Wednesday morning confirmed the permanence of the closure, saying: 'Closed today, closed forever.'
Ed Halmagyi is a well-known figure in Australia, having appeared on the television show Better Homes and Gardens for two decades. His bakery was a celebrated part of the Surry Hills community, making its closure a significant marker of the heightened fears within the Australian Jewish community following the Bondi attack.
