An eastern suburbs council is scrambling to close a loophole in its powers, after discovering it was unable to issue a fine to a man who rode a horse across Bondi Beach waving a Palestinian flag.

Beachgoers were left looking twice after 20-year-old social media influencer Ehtesham Ahmad crossed the famed beach atop a white Arabian horse earlier this month, one day after pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel demonstrators clashed on the sands , forcing intervention by police.

The horse-riding act on September 8 was widely criticised by Jewish groups, as well as by Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh, who warned it added further fuel to religious tensions in a part of Sydney known for its large Jewish population.

But while Ahmad – who has dismissed suggestions the gallop was unsafe – was handed a “move

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