Victoria Teplitsky said that her father, an 86-year-old Holocaust survivor, was seriously injured in an attack on Bondi Beach • She attacked the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister: “Is that what you wanted? We don’t believe you anyway” • She directed the main part of the attack to her pair of interviewers: “Will you now stop the biased reports?”
A particularly charged interview aired this morning on the ABC’s News Breakfast program, centered on Victoria Teplitsky, whose 86-year-old father was injured in the terrorist attack on Bondi Beach in Sydney on Sunday. Beyond the difficult description of what her father went through, Teplitsky used the stage to sharply attack the country’s leadership and especially the public media, led by the ABC network itself where she was interviewed.
According to her, her father was shot in the lower part of his leg when he tried to escape from the terrorists in the first moments of the attack. He sat there, and when he got up – he was shot. He fell to the ground with a severe wound and massive bleeding. But his partner, who was sitting next to him, acted quickly – pulling out her belt and preparing a tourniquet to stop the blood. Since then her father underwent surgery and is hospitalized.
Teplitsky said that her father is a Holocaust survivor, who also experienced anti-Semitism in the former Soviet Union, and immigrated to Australia so that his children would not go through what he went through. “He brought us here so we wouldn’t experience it,” she said, “and it worked for years – until October 7, 2023.”
When asked about her feelings after the attack, she replied with open anger. “How do we feel? Is this what you wanted? Is that enough now? Now listen to us?” she said live. She appealed directly to Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Foreign Minister Penny Wong, urging them to act. “Actually, you don’t have to stand up and say anything, because we don’t believe you anyway,” she continued.
“Will you stop the biased reporting?”
But most of Victoria’s anger was directed at the ABC network itself, Australia’s public broadcasting corporation. Teplitsky accused the public broadcaster of biased reporting since the Hamas attack on October 7, and claimed that the media coverage contributed to a profound change in the sense of security of the Jewish community in Australia. “Give us a voice,” she demanded, “stop the biased reporting.”
“I’m Ozzy” (Australian), she said, adding that she is not a religious woman, but since October 7 she began wearing the Star of David openly. “If you have something to say – tell me to my face,” she said, and appealed to ABC again to “stop the bias.”
The presenter of the show, Emma Revalto, expressed sympathy with Teplitsky and her father’s condition, but did not address the claims of media bias. “We are very sorry for what you went through and what you are going through,” she said, and wished the father a speedy recovery.