University courses covering Israel-Palestine should be audited, Julian Leeser tells royal commission | Royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion

Shadow Education Minister Julian Leeser has called on universities to monitor all courses teaching about the Jewish community, Israel or Palestine.

Appearing before the royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion on Friday, Leeser said he was “very concerned” about antisemitism on university campuses and was unhappy with the way vice-chancellors had handled the issue following the Hamas terror attack on October 7, 2023.

“I was particularly unhappy with the responses I received [from vice-chancellors] “Regarding their failure to monitor courses on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict to ensure that both sides are presented in the best possible light so that students are best prepared to make their own decisions,” he said.

This week, the investigation focused on the safety of the Jewish community, with broad consensus that the risk increased after October 7.

Leeser made a number of recommendations to the commissioner, including that the government legislate that all universities adopt the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance. (IHRA) definition antisemitism rather than their own definition, as the federal government recently mandated. The IHRA’s definition is controversial due to concerns that it could be used to silence criticism of Israel.

Last year, Vicki Thomson, chief executive of the Group of Eight, said members had recommended that the IHRA definition was “not applicable” in the Australian context. because it may restrict academic freedom.

Leeser said all universities should “monitor what is taught about Jews and Israel in classrooms” and remove any “anti-Semitic material.” He said universities teaching the Israeli-Palestinian conflict should make sure course materials come from “trusted sources” that are “balanced.”

When asked how to ensure the class content was “balanced,” he said people believed that if they had a Palestinian and an Israeli perspective, they had shown both sides, “but one of those perspectives was a wholehearted defense of the advocates,” and “the other perspective is not like that at all.”

An investigation last week into the vice-chancellors of Australia’s biggest universities said they had sharply changed their protest policies since 2023, prompting warnings that academic freedom was being curtailed.

Leeser said antisemitism today is evident in “three main vectors”: “the far right among neo-Nazis, among radical Islamists, and the academic and cultural left.”

Tahli Blicblau, the first CEO of the Dor Foundation, acknowledged that “Islamic extremism” and the “far-right far right” were the most dangerous radical ideologies perpetuating antisemitism, but also targeted “fringe elements of the far left and conspiracy movements.” The foundation was established last year to combat antisemitism.

He said the pro-Palestinian movement may have similar ideological drivers as the “radical far-left threat” but that the “vast majority” of pro-Palestinian protesters are not motivated by violence against Jewish people.

Blicblau said in an “unprecedented” environment of high security risk to the Jewish community following the Bondi terror attack, greater integration was needed between New South Wales law enforcement and Jewish groups.

“If you accept that the level of threat is serious, then the level of integration and interaction between the Jewish community and law enforcement and intelligence agencies needs to be mature enough to meet the magnitude of the threat,” he said.

Leeser also gave emotional evidence of her experience attending a Hanukkah event in northern Sydney on December 14, 2025, the day of the Bondi terror attack, when news of the deadly shooting broke. She said her seven-year-old son was “crying inconsolably” and asked him, “Dad, will we be safe?” he asked.

Since then, Leeser said, her son has been afraid to attend synagogues and outdoor social events.

“What kind of Australia are we building where a seven-year-old child doesn’t feel safe going to a place of worship?” he said. “This is not the Australia I know and love, and it is not the Australia I want for my children, or anyone’s children.”