Royal Commission hearings conclude

Commissioner Virginia Bell opened Wednesday’s final day of Royal Commission hearings by announcing the commission would seek a short extension to its reporting deadline.

Bell said she would seek to hand down her report on December 18, so it is not delivered on the anniversary of the Bondi Chanukah attack.

Wednesday’s final hearing heard evidence from Jewish community leaders, social cohesion advocates and lived experience witnesses. Chabad of Bondi spiritual leader Rabbi Yehoram Ulman was the final witness called.

Australia’s Special Envoy 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.”

Australia’s mainstream Jewish communal organisations thanked the thousands of people who gave evidence and made submissions to the Royal Commission.

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.

Zionist Federation of Australia president Jeremy Leibler called the evidence before the Commission “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 many witnesses had been targeted by antisemitic and other hateful abuse on social media afterwards.

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.

The eight organisations – also including the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, Jewish Community Council of Victoria, Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council and Northfield Foundation – have been represented pro bono by Arnold Bloch Leibler.