Jewish Australians report harassment and intimidation after giving evidence at antisemitism royal commission | Royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion

Australian Jews have reported a dramatic increase in online harassment and intimidation after giving evidence to a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion.

Before hearings began on Tuesday morning, commissioner Virginia Bell said at least one case had been referred to the Australian federal police.

“There is one thing I want to say, and it is about the harassment and intimidation that members of the Jewish community who testified before this commission were subjected to,” Bell said.

“We have received reports of a dramatic increase in online hate messages after several witnesses came forward. I should note that on one occasion the matter was referred to the Australian federal police for investigation.”

Bell said the commission was “closely monitoring” incidents of online harassment and “recording these offensive social media posts.”

“It remains to be seen how this sheer hatred and bigotry towards members of the Jewish community will benefit those who publish these comments, but one of the commission’s main objectives is to understand and evaluate the lived experience of antisemitism by members of the Jewish community and is informed by behavior of this nature.”

Earlier this month the commission held fortnightly public hearings focusing on the “lived experience” of antisemitism in Australia.

New South Wales police officers gave evidence of their preparations for Hanukkah by the Sea celebrations in December last year.

On the evening of December 14, Sajid Akram and his son Naveed opened fire on a beachside Hanukkah celebration for the local Jewish community from the footbridge over Archer Park on Bondi beach.

15 people were killed by gunmen. Sajid Akram was shot dead by the police; Naveed was shot and remains in custody facing charges including 15 counts of murder and one count of committing an act of terrorism, which investigators claim was “inspired” by the Islamic State.

The commission heard this week that gunmen shot 11 people and fatally wounded 10 within 30 seconds of opening fire at a Hanukkah event.

The pair were subdued after seven minutes and 41 seconds.

NSW deputy police commissioner Peter McKenna told the commission the Bondi massacre had a profound impact on police operations.

“Australia has changed since that terrible terrorist attack. The way we do our job, the way we conduct our policing has changed since that attack.”

He later said: “The world has changed for us since December 14, 2025.”

McKenna told the commission that police resources were limited due to widespread demands and that there was no specific intelligence that a terrorist attack was being planned at the Hanukkah event.

“We need to have a special intelligence to take action.

“Otherwise the Pitt Street Mall could have been the site of an attack. Midnight services could have been the location of a specific attack. We don’t know and we can’t guess.”

McKenna said long-armed officers are now assigned to community events.

“The environment we are in now is very different.”

McKenna rejected suggestions that police were underestimating the threat to the Jewish community and said the beachside event had a very low risk profile for their mission.

The Jewish organization Community Safety Group asked the police to maintain a static police presence at the event. Officers were instead given “mobile duty” to visit the site repeatedly, but were told in an email that “there was no need for them to remain there for the entire duration”.

“Please take a vehicle crew or two with you and [high-visibility police] presence You don’t need to stay there the entire time, but your presence will make the community feel safe,” an email from the east suburban operations inspector told two command inspectors days before the incident.

Four police officers were in Archer Park when the gunmen opened fire.

“The issue here is not about that reaction, it’s about how these two men were there that day and did what they did without our knowledge,” McKenna said.