The 22-year-old student, whose parents were both born in Israel, said she was labelled a \u201cbaby killer\u201d and genocide supporter.<\/p>\n
Liat was among more than 300 witnesses who testified in the royal commission, which concluded public hearings after four months this week<\/a>.<\/p>\n It was, from the very beginning, a mammoth task with a tight deadline of less than 12 months. The work began in a moment of raw grief and anger felt by Jewish Australians in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack, when 15 people were killed during a Hanukah celebration.<\/p>\n But the inquiry has also drawn criticism for the narrow definition it used to describe antisemitism, for only considering the broader context of racism in its final weeks, and for limited inclusion of Jewish Australians who have spoken in support of Palestine and been criticised for it.<\/p>\n But while community leaders have differing opinions on how the commission\u2019s public hearings have fared, there is unity in the desire for solutions to stamp out the pervasiveness of antisemitism in the everyday lives of Jewish Australians.<\/p>\n Ordinary Jewish Australians<\/p>\n For Alex Ryvchin, the co-chair of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the public hearings laid bare the anguish and safety fears of community members.<\/p>\n \u201cYou\u2019ve had people who don\u2019t ordinarily have a platform, ordinary members of the community, who\u2019ve been called and who have given heart-rending, harrowing accounts of what it\u2019s like every single day for an ordinary Jewish Australian,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n \u201cTo me, that\u2019s really the most important thing \u2013 for the royal commission and also for the country to hear that,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n Sign up for a weekly email featuring our best reads<\/a><\/p>\n The final week of hearings was dominated by calls from the federal opposition and some Jewish community leaders to extend the inquiry\u2019s timeframe to hear from more witnesses.<\/p>\n The calls were resisted by the commissioner, Virginia Bell SC, who has requested a short extension of the reporting deadline so the release of the final report does not coincide with the first anniversary of the Bondi attack.<\/p>\n The opposition frontbencher Julian Leeser, a Jewish MP, named Anthony Albanese and senior cabinet ministers including the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, among a cohort of people he said should appear before the inquiry to explain \u201cwhat went wrong from the very top\u201d.<\/p>\n A mourner lights candles beside floral tributes after the Bondi attack. Photograph: AFP\/Getty Images<\/p>\n Ryvchin is \u201csceptical\u201d about what calling senior political figures would have achieved, saying \u201cwe hear enough from them\u201d.<\/p>\n He says the commission has \u201cample\u201d evidence to draw the \u201ccorrect conclusions about what has caused this crisis, what led to Bondi and what remedies we need to improve as a country\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cI personally feel that things have gotten even worse since Bondi. The question is: will we see the right conclusions to lead us out of it?<\/p>\n \u201cWill we see those who are truly responsible for it held to account? \u2026 That\u2019s what remains to be seen.\u201d<\/p>\n Getting to the core of antisemitism?<\/p>\n Dr Max Kaiser, a Jewish historian who sits on the advisory committee of the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) \u2013 a progressive advocacy group \u2013 says there were gaps in who the commission heard from.<\/p>\n Speaking in a personal capacity, he says the commission heard limited public testimony from Jewish Australians who have participated in pro-Palestine protests, including those charged under Queensland\u2019s hate speech crackdown<\/a>.<\/p>\n That means the commission failed to hear from those whose activism in support of Palestine has made them the target of abuse from pro-Israel activists, he says.<\/p>\n \u201cThey view that expression of solidarity with Palestinians as very much part of their Jewish values and very much about saying never again for anyone,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n skip past newsletter promotion<\/a><\/p>\n Sign up to Five Great Reads<\/p>\n Each week our editors select five of the most interesting, entertaining and thoughtful reads published by Guardian Australia and our international colleagues. Sign up to receive it in your inbox every Saturday morning<\/p>\n after newsletter promotion<\/p>\n \u201cIt is very intensive abuse aimed at people\u2019s Jewish identity and calling into question their Jewish identities.\u201d<\/p>\n Sarah Schwartz, the JCA\u2019s executive officer, told the commission she had been called a traitor and \u201cHitler\u2019s Jew\u201d because of her advocacy for Palestinians, in online harassment from pro-Israel and neo-Nazi groups.<\/p>\n Jewish leaders have also raised concerns about witnesses at the commission being subjected to online abuse after testifying.<\/p>\n In June, the Australian federal police charged a man with allegedly harassing a royal commission witness by sending three emails. The man was found in possession of neo-Nazi material and leaflets for the National Socialist Network \u2013 now proscribed as a hate group under Australian laws<\/a>.<\/p>\n People pay their respects at Bondi Pavilion after the attack in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukah celebration. Photograph: Blake Sharp-Wiggins\/The Guardian<\/p>\n Asked whether the commission got to the heart of antisemitism in modern Australia, Kaiser replies that only in its final two weeks did the commission hear from experts on the importance of viewing antisemitism in the wider context of racism.<\/p>\n \u201cAny commission that was seriously wanting to talk about antisemitism and understand it as a complex social issue and understand it at its root cause needed to start from examining antisemitism as a form of racism and understanding the wider international and Australian context,\u201d he says.<\/p>\n He also criticised the lack of experts who could challenge the commission\u2019s use of the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance definition of antisemitism as a guiding framework during the inquiry.<\/p>\n The definition, which has been adopted by the federal government, is accompanied by illustrative examples, which opponents have argued means it can be used to conflate antisemitism with legitimate criticism of Israel.<\/p>\n Ryvchin says the commission\u2019s recommendations will reveal whether it has gotten to the core of how antisemitism operates in Australia.<\/p>\n Bondi evidence behind closed doors<\/p>\n The public hearings have offered a narrow glimpse into the information about the Bondi terror attack before the commission.<\/p>\n In her closing address this week, Bell acknowledged there may be frustration that much of the evidence about the Bondi attack was heard behind closed doors but stressed the need to not prejudice the ongoing criminal proceedings.<\/p>\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/08\/1787970253_253_500.jpg\")
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