Jewish Group Demands Richmond Mayor’s Resignation Over Bondi Beach Shooting Conspiracies

Richmond Mayor Eduardo Martinez is facing calls to resign and criticism from at least one council colleague after reposting a series of antisemitic posts on LinkedIn in recent days.

Some of Martinez’s reposts called last weekend’s attack on a Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach a false flag operation planned by Israel. Another asserted that “The root cause of antisemitism is the behavior of Israel and Israelis.”

The Jewish Community Relations Council Bay Area on Thursday urged Martinez to resign, and Richmond Vice Mayor Cesar Zepeda said this is not the first time Martinez has shared problematic posts or said inappropriate things.

Martinez did not respond to KQED’s request for an interview, but after blowback, he took down the posts and wrote on his LinkedIn page that he apologized for sharing them without thinking or understanding them.

“I want to apologize for sharing my previous posts without thinking. Of course we know that antisemitism was here before the creation of the state of Israel. As I’ve said many times before, we should not conflate Zionism with Judaism. They are two separate beliefs,” he wrote.

In response to a comment below that post, Martinez added, “I did not agree nor disagree with the text because I did not understand the point of it. I was asking for analysis. I now know not to post anything I don’t completely comprehend, even to ask for clarification. Once again, my apologies. I am a pacifist with no tolerance for violence.”

But Zepeda said Martinez has yet to directly disavow the content of the antisemitic posts.

“From what I understand and from what I have seen … it’s not that [he’s saying] the post was wrong or that I disagree with the post or that it shouldn’t be put out there as conspiracy theories. It’s more like, ‘Oops, I got caught, sorry,’” he said. “And it’s not just this comment; things have been adding up. And I don’t think that he understands.”

Specifically, Zepada said Martinez regularly sends him troubling Facebook posts related to Gaza and Israel and has refused to change his language when he’s called out.

He said Martinez should consider whether he can continue to represent the city of 115,000. Martinez is up for reelection in June.

“If you really don’t mean to incite or cause pain or cause people to feel unsafe … why not choose better words? Why not choose something different that brings people together versus inciting and dividing?” he said. “He needs to just really reflect. Because we can’t wait till June.”

Not all of Martinez’s colleagues joined Zepeda in questioning the mayor’s ability to continue serving Richmond, however.

Councilmember Claudia Jimenez condemned the posts, but she said that Martinez has apologized and that she believes political enemies who dislike his broader support of the Palestinian cause are using this as a pretext to attack the mayor.

“Those posts were careless, and they caused real harm to people. And as leaders, we should be careful of our words because we don’t want to cause division,” she said. “But at the same time, we need to also understand that the thing about calling for his resignation when he has been a good mayor of Richmond, I think it’s overreaching and I believe it’s because of his stance on Palestine.”

Jimenez said Martinez’s outreach to the Jewish community and his apology will help repair harm more than pushing him out.

And Councilmember Doria Robinson said voters should be allowed to make their decision at the ballot box.

“It has been quite painful to watch the news of this terrible incident. Lives were lost, people were injured and traumatized. Now is the time for mourning, support, and reflection,” she said in a statement. “My understanding is the mayor is in the process of answering for his reposts and is attempting to apologize and make amends with Richmond’s Jewish community. The upcoming June 2026 election will be the opportunity for residents to weigh in on his leadership.”