SYDNEY, Australia (JTA) – Five Jews, most born in Israel, were victims of a vicious fistfight that has been described as the worst incident of anti-Semitic violence in Sydney for many years.

A mob of eight teenagers reportedly taunted the group of religious Jews with racist abuse on Friday night as the four men and one woman were walking home from Shabbat dinner after midnight.

A violent confrontation ensued, some of it caught on closed circuit TV cameras. Security guards from a nearby nightspot intervened before police arrived. They arrested two 17-year-old boys and a 23-year-old man, but the rest of the alleged attackers fled.

The two teenagers were charged with affray and breach of bail and were scheduled to appear in court Sunday. The 23-year-old was charged and ordered to appear in court on December 3.

All five Jews were hospitalized. “Some have suffered concussion – there’s also a fractured cheekbone, a possible broken nose, lacerations and bruising,” a police spokesman said.

Eli Behar, 66, suffered a bleed on his brain but is expected to make a complete recovery, according to a spokesperson for St Vincent’s Hospital.

Four of the five were members of the Behar family. The fifth was Shlomo BenHaiem, the education shaliach for the Jewish National Fund who served in an Israel Defense Forces intelligence unit.

One of the other victims, Zeev Aronstam, a Mizrachi Jew born in Gush Etzion, said he preferred not to discuss the incident, simply saying: “We believe in God.”

The men, aged 27 to 66, were all wearing kippot. Three of the men reportedly served in the IDF and held their ground before being assaulted.

Yair Miller, president of the New South Wales Jewish Board of Deputies, said the incident highlighted the need for effective criminal law against racist violence.

“The attack in Bondi is the worst incident of anti-Semitic violence in Sydney for many years,” Miller said.