Thousands gathered in Sydney’s eastern suburbs where the attack occurred to observe the minute of silence as part of events taking place across the country. Amid heightened security, the Jewish community of New South Wales held a vigil and commemoration for the victims and survivors at Bondi Beach. Dignitaries and religious leaders addressed the event.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the Day of Reflection “a moment for Australia to stand with our Jewish community.”

In a public statement on Saturday, Albanese said that the declaration for Sunday’s remembrance event was made on Friday in coordination with New South Wales, saying that “Australia will not allow these evil antisemitic terrorists to divide us. Light will triumph, and that is what Chanukah is about.”

Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO) Director-General Mike Burgess said he will fully cooperate with the government’s review of national security agencies announced on Sunday by Albanese, The Guardian reported.

Burgess said the review would help clear up “false statements” circulating since the Bondi Beach terror attack and restore public confidence. He added that ASIO had already begun an internal review of its decision-making after the attack, and that findings would be shared with the government and made public. Burgess said the agency welcomed scrutiny but rejected claims that ASIO failed to pass on intelligence or deprioritized counter-terrorism efforts.

Fifteen people were murdered in the terrorist attack during a Chanukah celebration at Archer Park on Dec. 14, including Rabbi Eli Schlanger, 41, who led the Chabad mission in Bondi for 18 years, and non-Jewish passerby Adam Smyth, a 50-year-old father of four. The youngest victim was 10-year-old Matilda.

Police killed one gunman at the scene and arrested the second, who faces 59 charges including 15 counts of murder and committing a terrorist act. Police said early indications suggest the father and son attackers were inspired by Islamic State, a group listed as a terrorist organization in Australia.

Forty-one people—including four children—were taken to hospitals in the immediate aftermath of the terrorist attack, according to the Australian Federal Police.

NSW Health said on Sunday afternoon that 13 patients remain hospitalized at the Prince of Wales, St George, St Vincent’s, Royal Prince Alfred and Royal North Shore hospitals, including four people in critical but stable condition and nine people in stable condition.

On the same time, Israeli  President Isaac Herzog and the Chairman of World Zionist Organization (WZO) Yaakov Hagoel, hosted an  event in Jerusalem in solidarity with the Australian Jewry

A moving ceremony marked the lighting of the eighth Chanukah candle was held at the National Institutions Building in the Weizmann Hall—where the first President of the State of Israel,Chaim Weizmann was sworn in.

The ceremony took place in the presence of President of the State of Israel Isaac Herzog; Chairman of the World Zionist Organization, Yaakov Hagoel; Acting Ambassador of Australia to Israel, Lyndall Sachs; her deputy, Dylan Letcher; philanthropist and businessman Sir Frank Lowy; Mark Sofer, former Ambassador of Israel to Australia; representatives of bereaved families; immigrants from Australia; and other distinguished guests. The event was a joint expression of solidarity, symbolically connecting Jerusalem and Australia.

The ceremony was held via live video broadcast, while more than ten thousand members of the Jewish community in Sydney gathered at Bondi Beach—the site of the terrorist attack in which 15 Jews were murdered. There, participants lit the eighth and final Hanukkah candle and watched the ceremony taking place in Jerusalem. During the ceremony in Israel, 15 memorial candles were lit in memory of the victims.

Among the participants in Jerusalem were representatives of the Chabad movement from the family of the late Rabbi Schlanger, the Chabad emissary who was murdered in the attack, as well as 10th-grade students from Keter Torah School, part of the community directly affected by the tragic event, in which three fathers from the school community were killed.

The ceremony underscored the State of Israel’s commitment to strengthening ties with Jewish communities in the Diaspora, the principle of mutual responsibility among Jewish communities worldwide, and standing together in the face of terrorism.

President of the State of Israel, Isaac Herzog, said: “Tonight, on the 8th and final candle of Chanukah, I want to say to the Jews of Australia: the people of Israel are with you. Despite thousands of miles between us, we feel your pain, we see your courage under fire, we share your sense of abandonment, shock, and horror. We send our sincerest condolences to all those grieving their loved ones, and our warmest wishes for the speedy recovery of all those wounded.’’

“I have witnessed the resilience and depth of Australian Jewry. I hope to be able to visit you all soon in Australia and bring you a message of love from the State of Israel, to hug you and console you on behalf of the nation and people of Israel,’’ he added.