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The 2023 Foundation’s curated collection of events and recommended readings, including Michael Scott’s recently published books deliver thoughtful, effective, and engaging insights.
Michael’s books are available globally on Amazon, Audible and Kindle.
A Light Still Burns - Israel and the Values Worth Defending
A CALL TO COURAGE FROM A SOLDIER WHO REFUSED TO STAND BY AS ANTISEMITISM SURGED AND WESTERN VALUES CAME UNDER SIEGE.
The world is shifting. Antisemitism is on the rise. The West stands at a crossroads.
Hatred was once whispered. Now it roars-and too many look away. But what happens when someone outside the Jewish community refuses to stay silent, instead choosing to speak out boldly and without apology?
In A Light Still Burns, Michael Scott CSC-highly decorated Australian Army officer and founder of The 2023 Foundation-delivers a powerful and deeply personal call to conscience. Drawing from over three decades of military service and a transformative posting in Jerusalem with the United Nations, Scott offers a fearless defense of Israel and its values shared with the West, which are now under siege.
With piercing clarity, Scott unpacks the horror of October 7, 2023-and the chilling aftermath on the streets of Sydney that compelled him to act. Through a series of thought-provoking essays, Scott exposes the new face of antisemitism, the ideological assault on truth, and the West's slow moral decay.
But there is also a light revealing a path forward. A Light Still Burns is a rallying cry-a passionate reminder that courage is contagious and in the face of darkness, even one voice can ignite hope.
“This book by an experienced and highly credentialed former military officer pungently and bravely advocates the case for Israel from personal experience and a perception of widespread antisemitism in this country. His heart and his head are passionately on display. “
General the Honerable Sir Peter Cosgrove AK AC (Mil) CVO MCC (Ret.)
Governor-General of Commonwealth of Australia, 2014-2019
“…after reading this book you will be left in doubt about his indefatigable commitment to turning back this tide of hate. Michael understands rightly what it is at stake not just for Australia and Israel but for the wider world.”
The Honourable Josh Frydenberg
Treasurer of the Commonwealth of Australia, 2018-2022
When Our Light is Tested: The Bondi Massacre and the Choices Ahead
A FORENSIC EXAMINATION OF HOW ANTISEMITISM, MORAL EVASION, AND INSTITUTIONAL FAILURE CULMINATED IN THE BONDI MASSACRE—AND WHAT THAT MOMENT REVEALS ABOUT THE CHOICES NOW FACING AUSTRALIA AND THE DEMOCRATIC WEST.
A call to action from a soldier who refused to look away as hatred came home.
For years, the warning signs were visible. Antisemitism moved from history and the Middle East into mainstream discourse, institutions, and public life across Western democracies.
Then, on a summer evening in Australia in December 2025—on the first night of Chanukah—a globalised call to intifada arrived on golden sand.
The Bondi Beach massacre exposed the consequences of tolerating incompatible ideologies and incendiary rhetoric. What had been fashionable in protest culture became mass murder at an Australian national icon, as families gathered to celebrate light.
In When Our Light Is Tested, Michael Scott CSC—author of A Light Still Burns and an Australian Army veteran—draws on survivor testimony, lived experience, and cultural analysis to show how societies drift before they fracture, and how failures of leadership—personal, civic, and moral—allow violence to follow when warnings are ignored.
Antisemitism is never only about Jews; it threatens democratic society and reveals how a nation responds to danger before it reaches its door.
Bondi was not an aberration; danger is at our door. This book is a tool—clarifying what is happening and empowering readers to exercise principled agency when passivity is no longer neutral.
Our light is being tested. We have a choice: tend the light as if our descendants’ future depends upon it—or endure the consequences of its loss.
“The abhorrent December 14, 2025 shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, that claimed fifteen innocent lives and injured dozens, was a shock—yet hardly a surprise. It was a result of years of rising hostility, expanding animosity, and amplified ignorance. The aim of this important book is to provide desperately needed context concerning the Jewish people and the Jewish democratic State of Israel. Colonel Michael Scott has known conflict and studied the perils of war, he has served throughout the Middle East and spent several years living in Israel, making this book so very relevant for understanding the far-reaching impact of the tragic Bondi attack.”
Isaac Herzog
President of the State of Israel
“Colonel Michael Scott is a principled Australian and a good man doing important work at a difficult moment in our nation’s story. His military service may have ended but he continues to serve our nation and the broader global community. He brings moral clarity, lived experience, and quiet courage to one of the defining challenges of our time, and leads with heart and an unshakeable commitment to truth. I’m proud to call him a friend and to support his efforts to stand against antisemitism and bring people together.”
Erin Molan
Australian television and radio presenter; host, The Erin Molan Show
“When I sat with Lissy Abrahams and other survivors of the Bondi massacre, I saw the human cost of an ideology that celebrates death over life and targets the innocent. What happened in Bondi is not an isolated Australian tragedy, nor just a headline about strangers. It reflects a reality that strikes at the heart of our shared humanity—a global sickness now manifesting across Western democracies.
“I stand with Israel, and I stand with people of conscience everywhere who refuse to surrender their societies to hatred, intimidation, and moral inversion. Colonel Michael Scott is right: This moment demands more than sympathy. It demands clarity, courage, and critical thinking from those who too often capitulate to the loudest voices instead of relying on their God-given moral compass.
“He is calling for action to confront antisemitism and violent extremism. We cannot afford to be bystanders while innocent lives are being taken.”
Phillip “Dr. Phil” McGraw, PhD
Television journalist and host, Dr. Phil;
#1 New York Times bestselling author;
Founder, ENVOY Television Network
“Colonel Michael Scott offers readers a rare and powerful piece of moral clarity. The Book of Psalms 34:15 reminds us to ‘seek peace and pursue it.’ The pursuit of peace requires moral courage, finding your voice to stand up against hatred. Because hate of any kind leads to hate of all kinds. This is our nation’s moment of moral reckoning. When Our Light Is Tested could not have come soon enough.”
Rabbi Levi Wolff
Chief Minister, Central Synagogue Sydney