An Australian Jewish man falsely accused of being the Bondi stabber by a local news channel and large social media accounts is taking legal action against the outlet, the Australian Jewish Association told The Jerusalem Post on Monday.
AJA is helping Benjamin Cohen explore legal options for reports identifying him as the stabber who murdered six people, and on Wednesday a Concerns Notice for defamation was sent to Channel 7 News.
“Ben was falsely accused by antisemites and ‘Pro-Palestine’ activists of being the Bondi Junction attacker,” AJA said on X on Sunday.
Channel 7 News identified Cohen as the attacker on Sunday morning, but hours later the New South Wales Police named the killer as 40-year-old Queensland man Joel Cauchi.
“The error was the result of human error and has since been corrected,” Channel 7 news told the Post. “Seven extends sincere apologies for any inconvenience caused by the mistake.”
Cohen’s father Mark responded to the restriction on X, saying that “There is a massive difference between human error and absolute negligence.”
'Crazed stabber in Sydney Bondi junction looks Israeli,' claims Twitter user.
Prior to the Channel 7 News report, several large social media platforms proliferated Cohen’s name as the identity of the Bondi killer. AJA said that action may be taken against such social media platforms later, but on Sky News on Sunday AJA President Dr. David Adler named X accounts Syrian Girl and Aussie Cossack as chief culprits.
On Saturday Aussie Cossack, the handle of Sputnik News contributor Simeon Boikov, shared on his Telegram channel that “The Sydney Bondi mall attacker has been identified by our subscribers as Benjamin Cohen. Awaiting confirmation.”
Boikov asked his subscribers what the origins of the surname Cohen were, alluding to a Jewish ethnic background for the attacker. He repeated Cohen’s name several times on X.
“Speculation brews over the identity of the Bondi attacker as Police refuse to publish his name,” Boikov said on X. “He might not be Benjamin Cohen but he certainly looks like him! What do the experts in the comments section say?”
Boikov argued on social media that he had emphasized in his reports that it was “unconfirmed” and he couldn’t be held responsible for statements by others that Cohen was confirmed as the attacker.
Syrian Girl, real name Maram Susli, claimed that Adler had defamed her and threatened to sue him, claiming that she had only posted about Cohen after the Channel 7 report.
Susli deleted several X posts that still appear in Google search, in which she had accused Cohen of being the Bondi stabber.
“Photos emerge of the crazed stabber in Sydney Bondi junction,” Susli wrote earlier that day.
“Looks Israeli.”
Some pro-Israel accounts had also falsely claimed as events unfolded that the attacker was a jihadist.