Public Hearing Block 1

Multiple witnesses gave evidence of the normalisation of antisemitism, with many describing how antisemitic abuse has become ordinary and largely unremarkable in daily Australian life. Sheina Gutnick, whose father Reuven Morrison was killed in the Bondi Beach attack, told the Commission antisemitic comments had become "socially and morally acceptable" in public discourse in a way she had never previously witnessed.

Others described being confronted in shopping centres, on public transport, at a wedding ceremony and even courtside at the Australian Open, frequently with no bystander intervention. Several witnesses said conduct once considered unthinkable was now met with silence or indifference from those around them, and that support from non-Jewish friends and colleagues had noticeably thinned since October 7.

Multiple witnesses gave evidence of children being targeted with antisemitic bullying, Nazi salutes, and slurs, both inside and outside the classroom. Witness AAT's 13-year-old son was physically assaulted and told Hitler had not "finished the job" after he began wearing a Star of David; the school's subsequent investigation addressed only the physical bullying and ignored every reference to racism.

 Witness AAP's teenage children said they no longer wanted to be Jewish after classmates chanted slurs and joked about dressing as the Bondi shooters for muck-up day. Daniel Onas, President of AJAX Junior Football Club, told the Commission children as young as seven had been targeted on the sporting field, including one boy who was told "Hitler should have finished you off."

Multiple witnesses gave evidence of concealing their Jewish identity as a coping mechanism, a pattern that recurred across almost every day of evidence. Witnesses described removing Star of David necklaces, declining to affix mezuzahs to new homes, covering kippahs with baseball caps, and adopting less identifiably Jewish names at work to avoid commercial or social risk. 

Nir Golan told the Commission he now covers his kippah in public and has instructed his children to remove Jewish symbols. Mia Kline described "de-Jewing" herself at university after being asked to leave a share-house as her housemates could not reconcile her Jewish identity with their values.

Multiple witnesses gave evidence of institutions failing to respond adequately when antisemitism was reported. Schools, universities, workplaces, sporting clubs and a national crisis helpline were repeatedly described as failing to act meaningfully. Blake Shaw told the Commission a supervising teacher shrugged off students chanting "Free Hezbollah" at Jewish primary-aged children on an excursion, replying that it was "just their beliefs."

Michele Goldman, CEO of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, said delayed or inadequate institutional responses had allowed harm to continue, pushing more community members to seek support directly from communal organisations rather than the public institutions meant to protect them.

Multiple witnesses gave evidence of an escalating pattern of physical threats and violence against the Jewish community since October 7. Alex Ryvchin described an arson attack on his former family home, directed with instructions for Molotov cocktails and handguns, with his daughters' bedroom directly above where the fire burned.

Peter Wertheim presented ECAJ audit data recording a 316% rise in antisemitic incidents in the year after October 7. Gayle Smith, CEO of Jewish Care Victoria, said her organisation now spends $1.8 million a year on security that cannot be recovered from aged care residents under current Commonwealth funding rules.