Bondi, Bell and blind spots

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has at last done the thing many said he must and others feared he would avoid: he has called a Royal Commission into antisemitism and the Bondi terror attack, handing the chair to former High Court justice Virginia Bell.

For Jewish Australians, it certainly does give us reassurance but it’s a test as well.

On December 14, 2025 at Bondi, a summer evening by the beach turned into a hunt. The victims were not random. They were targeted in a way that made sense only if you knew who they were. The attack confirmed a certain fear that had been building. Since October 7, 2023, many Jewish schools have operated behind heavier security, some synagogues have hired more guards, and families weighed up whether to take mezuzot off their front doors.

With this in mind, what’s interesting is that Albanese keeps coming back to the words “social cohesion”. He says this Royal Commission is about unity and bringing Australians together. Sounds comforting on the surface but for many Jews, “social cohesion” can end up as a polite way of avoiding a hard look at who has made Jews feel unsafe in their own streets.

Rallies about Gaza have often sounded, to Jewish ears, like rehearsals for a world where chants about intifada and wiping out Israel are just normal city noise.