Jewish community welcomes announcement of royal commission into antisemitism

Australia’s peak Jewish organisations have welcomed the federal government’s decision to establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission into antisemitism and the circumstances leading to the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. They described the move as a necessary national response to unprecedented levels of hatred directed at Jewish Australians.

The president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, Daniel Aghion, said the government had “made the right decision” in heeding sustained calls from the Jewish community, victims’ families and a broad cross section of Australian society.

“We are especially grateful to the eminent artists, lawyers, business leaders, sporting legends, political figures, women’s organisations and other groups who added their powerful voices to this call,” Aghion said.

He said the Jewish community expected the terms of reference to allow a full and honest examination of government policies and the conduct of key institutions that had contributed to, or failed to adequately respond to, rising antisemitism.

“On behalf of the Australian Jewish community, we welcome the Prime Minister’s announcement and expect that the terms of reference of the Royal Commission will allow an honest examination of government policies and the conduct and policies of key institutions and figures in major sectors of our society,” Aghion said.

“This is the only way that Australia’s time-honoured standards of decency and fairness can be upheld,” he said.

Aghion said the ECAJ would cooperate fully with the Royal Commissioner to ensure the lived experiences of Jewish Australians across multiple sectors were brought before the inquiry.

“The Commission should examine key drivers contributing to antisemitism in Australia, including ideological, political and religious extremism, and assess the adequacy of government, law enforcement and institutional responses,” he said.

He added that the inquiry should review legal frameworks, security measures and prevention programmes, including the extent to which the Jewish community is expected to fund its own protection. He said it should also examine the role of universities, trade unions, political parties, media organisations, social media platforms, immigration controls and funding sources in amplifying antisemitism.

The Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) welcomed Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement, saying the Royal Commission was necessary to confront the forces that led to the Bondi massacre. AIJAC national chairman Mark Leibler and executive director Dr Colin Rubenstein said the attack “did not occur in a vacuum”, but followed an “unprecedented surge in antisemitism across Australia”, warning that when hatred is “excused, downplayed or normalised, it inevitably leads to violence”.

They said victims’ families and the broader public deserved answers about not only what happened at Bondi, but “how it was allowed to happen” and how similar atrocities could be prevented.

They added that the Royal Commission must confront the “underlying causes of the relentless surge in antisemitic incidents” since October 7. AIJAC said the terms of reference provided a sound foundation, particularly their focus on ideological and religious extremism, law enforcement and antisemitism in educational institutions, and stressed it was essential that Commissioner Virginia Bell be advised by experts in national security, law and education as well as representatives of the Jewish community.

The Zionist Federation of Australia also welcomed the government’s decision.

ZFA president Jeremy Leibler said the establishment of the royal commission was a necessary step and that the scope of its terms of reference provided a strong foundation for meaningful outcomes.

“The work now is to ensure the Commission is able to examine all relevant issues fully and rigorously, follow the evidence wherever it leads, and deliver practical reforms that strengthen the safety and wellbeing of Jewish Australians and the broader community,” Leibler said.

ZFA chief executive Alon Cassuto said the Jewish community had been living with the consequences of a sustained and unprecedented rise in antisemitism.

“This Royal Commission must help answer how this was allowed to take hold in Australia and what must now change to ensure Jewish Australians can live their lives safely and without fear,” Cassuto said. “Getting this right is critical not just for our community, but for the health and resilience of Australian society.”

The NSW Jewish Board of Deputies acknowledged the Prime Minister’s decision to establish a Commonwealth Royal Commission, noting it had consistently called for such an inquiry in the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack. Its president, David Ossip, said he publicly called for a Royal Commission at the vigil on 21 December 2025, arguing that “only an inquiry with the full powers and independence of a Royal Commission could properly examine how this attack occurred and why antisemitism has been allowed to escalate so dramatically”.

Ossip said the Commission must now proceed “without fear or favour” and be prepared to examine not only security agencies but “the policies and conduct of the Government since 7 October 2023”, adding that its success would depend on maintaining confidence in the independence and rigour of the process.

He said the Board would engage constructively with the inquiry to ensure Australians learned “the unvarnished truth about the failures which led to the Bondi terrorist attack, the emergence of a permissive climate of antisemitism and the spread of ideological and religious extremism”, stressing that “the victims of the massacre, those whose lives were irrevocably changed, and all Australians deserve nothing less”.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese announced the royal commission on Thursday, confirming it would examine antisemitism across Australia, particularly since October 7, 2023. It will also examine the events leading up to the antisemitic terrorist attack at a Chanukah gathering at Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025.

Fifteen people were killed and dozens injured when a father and son opened fire on Jewish Australians during the celebration. Authorities have described the attack as the worst mass shooting in Australia in decades.

Speaking in Canberra, Albanese said the attack was a targeted act of terrorism.

“This was an antisemitic terrorist attack, aimed at Jewish Australians, inspired by ISIS,” he said. “Of course, a royal commission is not the beginning or the end of what Australia must do to eradicate antisemitism, or protect ourselves from terrorism, or strengthen our social cohesion.”

Albanese said the government would establish a Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion and had asked former High Court justice Virginia Bell to serve as commissioner. He said Bell would report before the end of the year and ensure the inquiry did not prejudice any future criminal proceedings.

He said the inquiry would focus on four areas, including the nature and drivers of antisemitism, the response of law enforcement, border control, immigration and security agencies, and the circumstances of the Bondi attack. The commission will also consider further measures to strengthen social cohesion and counter extremism.

Albanese said all states and territories would be asked to participate to ensure the inquiry was national in scope.

Bell served on the High Court from 2009 until her retirement in 2021, after earlier appointments to the NSW Supreme Court and Court of Appeal. Her career has included work at the Redfern Legal Centre, service as a public defender, and a senior role assisting the Wood Royal Commission into the NSW Police Service. Since leaving the High Court, Bell has chaired several major national inquiries, including the investigation into former prime minister Scott Morrison’s secret ministerial appointments. Her appointment has drawn criticism from some within the Jewish community, largely related to past rulings on protest laws.

The royal commission will examine the nature and prevalence of antisemitism and religiously motivated extremism, as well as matters relevant to public safety and social cohesion.

Albanese confirmed that the independent review of federal intelligence and law enforcement agencies led by former spy chief Dennis Richardson would be incorporated into the Royal Commission. An interim report is due in April.

He said the Royal Commission would sit alongside immediate government actions already taken, including adopting recommendations from Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal. These include fast-tracking tougher gun laws through National Cabinet, boosting law enforcement resources, and preparing legislation to criminalise hate speech and hate preachers.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley accused Prime Minister Anthony Albanese of being dragged into the Royal Commission only after weeks of resistance, saying his decision was “not an act of leadership” but proof that his “litany of excuses have collapsed”.

Ley said Australians had watched a prime minister “fumble and flounder while answers for victims’ families were put on hold”, arguing he relented “not because he believed a Commonwealth Royal Commission was the right thing to do, but because he was forced to do so by the Australian people”.

She said Albanese had attacked the proposal on timing and scope, claimed it would “platform antisemitism”, and asserted he had national security advice against holding one “despite being unable to demonstrate such advice existed”, adding: “This delay was not caution or careful consideration, it was weakness.”

Ley also criticised the appointment of a sole commissioner, saying an inquiry of this scale required three commissioners, and warned that “caving under pressure does not absolve this Prime Minister or his government of their failures”, concluding that Australians would expect the Royal Commission to operate “without bias and free of political interference”.

NSW Premier Chris Minns welcomed the federal government’s decision to establish a Royal Commission, describing the Bondi Beach attack as the worst terrorist incident the state has faced and saying the community deserved clear answers about how it occurred and how it could be prevented. He said the NSW Government would fully cooperate with the national inquiry and provide whatever assistance was required, confirming that the NSW Royal Commission would not proceed in light of the federal process. Minns said the state would continue working closely with the Jewish community on matters arising from the attack, with priorities remaining support for victims and their families, community safety, and ensuring everything possible was done to prevent a similar tragedy.

Independent MP for Wentworth Allegra Spender said the Bondi attack shattered the fundamental promise that Jewish Australians could live safely and openly, saying, “That promise was violated for the Jewish community on December 14 and must not happen again.”

She said the Royal Commission must help ensure Jewish Australians no longer need to live “behind security fences” and can “express their identity proudly and safely”, stressing that immediate action was needed alongside the inquiry.

Spender called for stronger policing, intelligence measures and hate speech laws, and said protecting the Jewish community’s security required sustained government investment, adding that she would continue pressing for ongoing policing, infrastructure security and regular public updates on actions taken to combat antisemitism.

 

Additional reporting by AAP