Intelligence warned Australia of Iranian-linked terror activity months before Bondi attack, officials say

Senior Israeli intelligence officials say Australia was warned months in advance about the establishment of foreign-linked terror infrastructure on its soil, including activity aimed at Jewish communities, amid growing concerns about both Iranian-directed operations and a potential resurgence of ISIS in Syria.

According to a senior Israeli intelligence official who spoke on background with Fox News Digital, Israel's foreign intelligence service provided Australian authorities with concrete warnings about what the official described as Iranian-directed terror activity operating inside Australia. The warning, the official said, was not about the Bondi Beach attack specifically, but about broader efforts to build terror networks with the intent of harming Jewish targets.

"We stopped a few ticking bombs," the official said. "The target was on people's heads."

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The official said Israeli intelligence identified Iranian guidance and coordination, including operatives allegedly possessing weapons and operating "in the center of Jewish communities," while remaining undetected by local authorities.

In the months preceding the Bondi Beach attack, the Australian government expelled Iran's ambassador after its domestic security services publicly accused Iran of directing or enabling attacks against Jewish targets in Australia. Tehran rejected the allegations and denied involvement.

After the shooting, Iranian state media published an official condemnation of the attack, denouncing the killing of civilians and rejecting any connection between Iran and the violence. Australian officials said the investigation into the attack remains ongoing and have not attributed it to a foreign state. An intelligence source said we will know in the next few days if there has been such guidance.

The Israeli intelligence assessments align with warnings from a senior foreign diplomatic source, who described the current threat environment as being driven by a global contagion effect, in which extremist networks worldwide amplify and celebrate attacks, encouraging others to replicate them.

According to the diplomatic source, online jihadist ecosystems play a central role in accelerating this dynamic, rapidly turning incitement into action. From an operational standpoint, the source said such attacks are increasingly attractive to extremists because they are relatively simple to carry out while producing disproportionate impact.

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Two sources cautioned that the threat extends beyond Jewish targets, warning that attacks against Christian communities are also plausible, particularly during overlapping Jewish and Christian holiday periods that tend to heighten extremist motivation.

The senior Israeli intelligence official said Australia is not an isolated case, describing what he said is a sharp global rise in Iranian-linked terror activity targeting Jews.

"Since the war, there is a huge rise in attempts by Iran to execute terror all over the world against Jews," the official said. "Not only Australia."

The official said Israeli intelligence has identified or disrupted similar activity in Europe, Africa and Asia, including Germany, Austria and multiple locations beyond the Middle East, as well as alleged plots in South America, India and Thailand.

"If you knew how many terror attacks the Mossad has prevented, you would drop your jaw," the official told Fox News Digital.

A second senior Israeli intelligence source said the threat landscape has worsened after two years of war in the Middle East, which the source said has energized radical Islamist movements globally.

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According to the source, the threat increasingly comes from lone actors or sleeper cells, which require minimal resources and are harder to detect, but can still cause mass casualties and inspire copycat attacks.

The source warned in particular about developments in Syria, saying the instability there could allow ISIS to regroup and reemerge, creating new waves of violence beyond the region. "I'm worried about Syria and that ISIS will return," the source said, while also warning that the recent attack in Australia could inspire further violence elsewhere.

The intelligence warnings resurfaced after a terror attack Sunday evening at a public Hanukkah celebration on Bondi Beach, one of Australia's most iconic and densely populated locations.

Australian authorities said two gunmen - a father and his adult son - opened fire on the beach, killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens. Police said the father was killed at the scene, while the son was shot by officers and taken to a hospital in critical condition. Authorities classified the shooting as a terrorist attack targeting the Jewish community.

While Australian officials have not linked the Bondi Beach attack to foreign intelligence direction, the incident has intensified scrutiny of earlier warnings, the rise in antisemitic incidents nationwide and whether sufficient action was taken to disrupt emerging threats.

Australian leaders have condemned the attack, increased security around Jewish institutions and pledged to review counterterrorism measures.