Commissioner condemns online abuse of Jewish witnesses

Commissioner Virginia Bell has issued a dramatic warning to people intimidating and harassing Jewish witnesses who have given evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion.

Bell opened Tuesday’s hearing in Sydney by saying she was disturbed by reports of a “dramatic increase in online hate messages” directed at lived-experience witnesses who had appeared before the inquiry.

Dozens of witnesses have given evidence to the Royal Commission this month, describing abuse, threats and intimidation they have experienced because they are Jewish.

Bell said at least one matter had been referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.

She said the messages showed an “undiluted level of hatred and bigotry” directed towards Jewish Australians and were relevant to the Commission’s work.

“The Commission has, as one of its principal objects, understanding and assessing the lived experience of antisemitism by members of the Jewish community, and it is being informed by conduct of this character,” Bell said.

Dr Andre Oboler, chief executive of the Online Hate Prevention Institute, told JWire his organisation had seen troubling content targeting witnesses soon after the first Jewish witnesses gave evidence.

“We have seen content harassing witnesses or talking about them to other people in ways that are highly problematic,” Oboler said.

He said OHPI raised the issue with Royal Commission staff about two weeks ago and suggested the commissioner consider making a public statement.

“It was after the first few witnesses had spoken and content was already circulating,” Oboler said.

“We did recommend to staff from the Royal Commission that they may wish to recommend to the Commissioner that she make a statement.”

Oboler said the conduct went beyond offensive commentary and raised concerns about witness intimidation.

“Some of the behaviour was likely intimidation of future witnesses and likely to lead to a breach of the Royal Commissions Act,” he said.

“It is the same sort of concept you have in court in terms of witness tampering or intimidating people not to testify,” he said.

He said some posts had named individual witnesses and sought to undermine them.

“What we were seeing was a sort of defamation of witnesses and harassment of them, which could then lead further witnesses to decline to give evidence,” Oboler said.

“It was serious content, and it was about more than one witness.”

Oboler said OHPI was not currently monitoring all online activity directed at Commission witnesses, although it had offered to do so.

“At the moment, nobody has agreed to fund doing that, so we haven’t done it,” he said.

He said OHPI was under heavy pressure because of the scale of online antisemitism and its work for the commission.

OHPI is appearing before the Royal Commission as an expert witness and is preparing reports for the inquiry on online antisemitism.

This week’s hearings are examining the security environment before the Bondi Beach attack, intelligence and policing decisions, information-sharing about the attackers and security arrangements for the Chanukah by the Sea event.

The Royal Commission was established on 9 January 2026 after the Bondi attack, which killed 15 people. Bell delivered her interim report on 30 April, and the final report is due by 14 December 2026. Submissions to the Royal Commission remain open until Sunday 14 June 2026 and can be made through the Commission’s website.