
A local council has banned construction of a synagogue in Bondi, Australia for fear it could be a terror target, in a decision that Jewish leaders say has capitulated to Islam and created a dangerous precedent, reports News.com.au.
The decision was upheld in court this week and has shaken the established Jewish community in the picturesque suburb.
The Land and Environment Court upheld the decision by Waverley Council to prohibit construction of a synagogue in Wellington St, Bondi - just a few hundred meters from Australia’s most famous beach - because it would allegedly pose a security risk for users and local residents.
The head of the local Jewish community responded that the council and the court have stifled freedom of religion and rewarded terror.
“The decision is unprecedented,” Rabbi Yehoram Ulman told news.com.au.
“Its implications are enormous. It basically implies that no Jewish organization should be allowed to exist in residential areas. It stands to stifle Jewish existence and activity in Sydney and indeed, by creating a precedent, the whole of Australia, and by extension rewarding terrorism.”