Royal commission hears Jewish testimony

What's happened

Australia's Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has opened public hearings in May 2026 and has heard dozens of Jewish Australians describe a sharp rise in antisemitic abuse since October 2023, trauma after the December 2025 Bondi Hanukkah massacre that killed 15, and calls for tougher security, counterterrorism and gun reforms.

What's behind the headline?

What the hearings are showing

• Witnesses are describing repeated, public antisemitic abuse that has increased since the Gaza war began on 7 October 2023 and escalated after the Bondi massacre in December 2025.
• Many witnesses are saying they are now hiding Jewish identity in public (covering kippot, concealing jewellery) and that children are growing up under heavy security at schools and events.

Institutional gaps the commission is probing

• The interim report has said legal frameworks did not block action, but it has identified that counterterrorism capability and coordination at federal and state levels "could be improved." The commission is holding closed hearings to test whether intelligence or resourcing failures contributed to the December attack.
• The report recommends making the federal counterterrorism coordinator a full-time role and extending security protocols used for Jewish High Holy Days to other public-facing Jewish events.

Likely consequences

• Governments will implement the interim recommendations and will increase visible security at Jewish festivals; they will accelerate work on gun controls and a possible buyback to tighten licensing rules.
• Closed hearings will focus on intelligence sharing and resourcing; their findings will force agencies to change information flows and operational priorities if the commission finds gaps.

What to watch next

• Public hearings will move from lived experience to agency conduct: expect classified evidence to be revealed in closed sessions and further recommendations about police resourcing and intelligence oversight.
• State governments will be pressured to fund any nationally agreed gun buyback and to adopt stricter event-security measures for at-risk communities.

How we got here

The commission was established after two gunmen attacked a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach on 14 December 2025, killing 15. An interim report has delivered 14 recommendations — including stronger security at Jewish events, a review of counterterrorism coordination and proposed gun reforms — and public hearings have begun to examine lived experiences and agency responses.

Our analysis

The reporting across outlets is consistent on the core facts but emphasises different angles. Virginia Bell, the commission chair, is quoted in Reuters and The Times of Israel saying "The sharp spike in antisemitism that we've witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries"; both outlets use that line to frame a national security response. The New York Times and Reuters have focused on the interim report's finding that counterterrorism capability "could be improved" and that 14 recommendations were made. The Guardian highlights practical recommendations such as making the counterterrorism coordinator full-time and training senior ministers — "the federal government's counter-terrorism coordinator should be a full-time position" (Ben Doherty, The Guardian). Local outlets such as SBS and The Independent foreground victim testimony: Sheina Gutnick is cited describing verbal abuse in a shopping centre and how Bondi "holds a really, really heavy weight in our community's heart" (The Independent, Alisha Rahaman Sarkar). Several outlets (SBS, France 24, The Independent) report that witnesses are testifying under pseudonyms because they are afraid for their safety, illustrating the commission's emphasis on lived experience. On gun policy, AP News and The Independent report the interim recommendations urging nationally consistent gun laws and a buyback; reporting notes that some proposed changes would have prevented one alleged shooter from holding a licence under newly proposed rules. Taken together, the sources show agreement on facts and recommendations while differing in emphasis — security and intelligence reform in national papers, and personal trauma and community impact in local and community-focused reporting.

Go deeper

• What specific intelligence or police failures will closed hearings examine next week?
• How will proposed gun buyback costs be shared between the federal government and the states?
• What practical steps are schools and synagogues taking now to protect students and congregations?

More on these topics

• Virginia Bell - Justice

  Virginia Margaret Bell AC is a former senior puisne Justice of the High Court of Australia, the highest court in the Australian court hierarchy. She was sworn in on 3 February 2009, and retired on 28 February 2021.

• Anthony Albanese - Prime Minister of Australia since 2022

  Anthony Norman Albanese (born 2 March 1963) is an Australian politician who has served as the 31st prime minister of Australia since 2022. He has been the leader of the Labor Party since 2019 and the member of parliament (MP) for the New South Wales divis

• Bondi Beach - Suburb in Sydney, New South Wales, Australia

  Bondi Beach () is a beach and the surrounding suburb in Sydney, Australia. Bondi Beach is located 7 kilometres (4 miles) east of the Sydney central business district, in the local government area of Waverley Council, in the Eastern Suburbs. In the 2021...

• Alexander Ryvchin - Australian lawyer, Jewish advocate

  Alexander Ryvchin (Russian: Александр Рывчин; born 18 July 1983) is a Ukrainian-born Australian author, advocate, media commentator, and lawyer. As Co-Chief Executive Officer of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, he advocates on be

• Sam Mostyn - Governor-General of Australia (since 2024)

  Samantha Joy Mostyn AO is an Australian businesswoman and climate change and gender equity advocate, and first woman AFL commissioner. As of 2021 Mostyn is president at Chief Executive Women.

• Royal commission

  A royal commission is a major ad-hoc formal public inquiry into a defined issue in some monarchies. They have been held in the United Kingdom, Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Malaysia, and Saudi Arabia.

• Israel - Country in the Middle East

  Israel, formally known as the State of Israel, is a country in Western Asia, located on the southeastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea and the northern shore of the Red Sea.