Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said Friday that she is “desperately sorry” for what Jews have experienced in the country, amid accusations that Canberra had declined to tackle a surge of antisemitism leading up to the deadly terror attack at Bondi Beach earlier this month.

“I’m desperately sorry for what has occurred in our country and what the Jewish community have experienced,” she told the Advertiser tabloid. “You always regret what more could have been done… We acted, but we have to do more – and we are.”

Wong cited two areas of reform that the government is focusing on in the wake of the Bondi Beach shooting, in which 15 people were killed and some 40 wounded, by a father and son inspired by the Islamic State jihadist group.

“I think the two aspects of reform that we’re engaging in now are really important, both in terms of gun control, but also we acted on hate speech, but we clearly need to go further,” she said.

Wong condemned the slogans “From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free” — widely interpreted as a call for the wholesale destruction of the State of Israel — and “Globalize the intifada” — widely interpreted as an endorsement of terror attacks.

The foreign minister said she agreed with the Australian antisemitism envoy, who said those slogans “have been used to whip up anger and hatred of the Jewish people.”

Australian Opposition Leader Sussan Levy lashed out at Wong last week, noting the foreign minister had........

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