Communal organisations thank witnesses as hearings conclude

Australia’s mainstream Jewish communal organisations have thanked the thousands of people who gave evidence and made submissions to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, as its final day of hearings began in Sydney on Wednesday.

While Australia’s Special Envy to Combat Antisemitism Jillian Segal told The AJN on Wednesday morning, “My hope is that, as the Royal Commission concludes today, its work leads to lasting change and a safer future for Jewish Australians.”

The Jewish organisations said around 20,000 written submissions had been made and more than 200 people had given evidence across nine hearing blocks, including university students, teachers, small business owners, health workers, security staff and parents.

“We are proud that as a community we have done everything possible to put our experiences on the record,” they said in a joint statement, expressing hope it would lead to lasting change that reduced and over time eliminated the violence and hatred directed at Jewish Australians.

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Peter Wertheim said the community had provided the most detailed account of Jewish life in Australia ever put before a public inquiry. “Australia is the only country in the world which has turned the spotlight on itself to examine its own record of antisemitism, and to do so with the seriousness of purpose that the issue clearly warrants,” he said. “The Commissioner has a great deal of evidence to weigh, and we trust her to do that carefully.”

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler said history had taught the cost of allowing antisemitism to go unanswered. “The evidence before this Commission is a warning Australia cannot afford to ignore. We owe a profound debt to those who came forward, often at real personal cost,” he said.

The Dor Foundation CEO Tahli Blicblau noted that giving evidence had come at a cost, with many witnesses targeted by antisemitic and other hateful abuse on social media afterwards. “That is exactly why the Commission’s work — to make Australians safer in the physical world and online — is so important and so urgent,” she said. “That so many witnesses still chose to come forward says something about their strength and how much this matters to them.”

Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council executive manager Joel Burnie said the commission had heard about the antisemitism Jewish Australians confront in everyday life, but had also raised a broader question. “It also raised whether Australian institutions still meet the standards of safety and equal protection all Australians expect,” he said. “Whether in the workplace, at universities, in hospitals or at aged care facilities, Jewish Australians deserve to be safe and free from vilification.”

National Council of Jewish Women of Australia president Lynda Ben-Menashe said many Jewish women had spoken publicly for the first time about what antisemitism had meant in their daily lives.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michele Goldman said witnesses from all walks of life, including leaders, rabbis, artists, teachers, parents and students, had helped shine a light on the growing impact of antisemitism. And Jewish Community Council of Victoria president Philip Zajac said the process had been difficult and confronting, but that the community’s fervent wish was that it lead to lasting change.

The organisations noted the commission had heard from children who make calculations every morning about whether to be visibly Jewish, a parent who described a Jewish school that now looks more like a prison, a victim of the Bondi attack who was deep faked online while recovering in hospital after being shot, and a parent whose family home was graffitied with swastikas.

“Antisemitism doesn’t just exist in the firebombing of synagogues or the tragedy of Bondi,” they said. “The many stories of lived experience show how antisemitism has crept into daily life.”

The organisations also thanked the commission’s witness support teams, noting most community members who gave evidence had never participated in a process like it before.

Bell opened this morning’s hearing by announcing the commission would seek a short extension to its reporting deadline, to December 18, so its final report is not delivered on the anniversary of the Bondi Chanukah attack. She said the inquiry had heard directly from more than 14,000 members of Australia’s Jewish community, which numbers fewer than 120,000 people.

Today’s hearings return to a focus on the Bondi attack, with evidence from Jewish community leaders, social cohesion advocates and lived experience witnesses. Chabad of Bondi spiritual leader Rabbi Yehoram Ulman will be the final witness called.

The eight organisations — the ECAJ, NSW JBOD, JCCV, ZFA, NCJWA, The Dor Foundation, AIJAC and Northfield Foundation — have been represented before the commission by Arnold Bloch Leibler, acting pro bono.