Jewish witnesses testifying before an inquiry into antisemitism have faced a surge of online harassment and intimidation, the commission’s chair said on Tuesday, according to the Associated Press.
Virginia Bell, a former High Court judge leading the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, said multiple witnesses reported a sharp increase in hateful messages after giving evidence at public hearings that began ib May 4.
“We have received reports from a number of witnesses concerning a dramatic increase in online hate messages after they have given evidence,” Bell said, condemning what she described as “undiluted” hatred targeting the Jewish community.
The commission has begun documenting offensive social media content, and at least one case has been referred to police, she said.
The inquiry was established following a December terrorist attack in Sydney in which two gunmen inspired by the Islamic State terrorist group killed 15 people, including a 10-year-old girl and an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, during a gathering celebrating the first night of Channukah in Bondi Beach.
In its first weeks, the commission has examined the scope of antisemitism across Australian society and institutions. During that period, police charged a 68-year-old man with displaying a prohibited Nazi symbol outside hearings in Sydney.
The commission said it remained committed to conducting its investigation “without fear or intimidation,” adding that security measures are in place to protect participants.
Antisemitism in Australia was left unchecked and became normalized after the outbreak of the war against Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, fueling violence against Jewish people, the country’s national security and intelligence chief said on Monday.
The frank remarks were made during Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion public inquiry.
“There is no doubt that the war in the Middle East invoked a range of emotions in Australia,” said Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organization. “Some of those violent aspects ... and those behaviors, including antisemitism that, in our view, were left unchecked, were therefore normalized and gave more permission for violence ... and Jewish Australians were on the receiving end.”
Burgess said that beginning in late 2024, antisemitism “escalated in severity from threatening, intimidating behavior to direct targeting of people, businesses and places of worship.”
Australian Jewish groups had long claimed that the government turned a blind eye to the incitement to violence that began immediately after the Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack on southern Israel, allowing it to fester unchecked for months before a rash of violent attacks began against the Jewish community, including arson and vandalism of synagogues, shops and private vehicles.
