Witnesses giving evidence to a royal commission examining antisemitism in Australia have been targeted with death threats and vile abuse, prompting a federal police investigation.
The royal commission, launched in response to the Bondi terror attack, featured testimony from Aussies with lived experience of antisemitism earlier this month.
But after the witnesses gave their evidence, more than 1,000 abusive posts and comments were directed at them online.
The revolting comments included calls to “execute all Zionists” and “kill all Jews”, branding witnesses as “cockroach”, “parasite”, and “rat”.
They also featured Holocaust denial and conspiracy theories, described the Bondi attack as a “false flag,” and called for “concentration camps” to be set up in Australia.
“I wish I could tell you I was surprised,” Dor Foundation CEO Tahli Blicblau, whose organisation catalogued the abuse, told news.com.au.
“Unfortunately we have been aware of this sort of conduct online — and increasingly offline — for a long time. It certainly has escalated,” Ms Blicblau said.
“It is horrific, and I think the fact it’s become normalised certainly doesn’t make it acceptable or tolerable.
“It absolutely defines the vital importance of the commission and its work. This commission is basically a self-generating evidence machine; every day that it continues, new evidence demonstrating its critical importance is coming to light.”
President of the Mount Sinai College board, Stefanie Schwartz, was among the witnesses who gave evidence this month, telling the inquiry there was a “sense of fear and anxiety” within the school community in the wake of Bondi.
The school, which has around 400 students, was targeted with antisemitic graffiti last January.
Just as students were returning from summer break, vandals spray-painted the walls of the school and a neighbouring property with offensive slurs, including the phrase “Jew dogs”.
Ms Schwartz said some Jewish families had decided not to enrol their children there because they felt it was too risky.
“Execute all Zionists, it is a terrorist cult,” was one of the comments made online in response to Ms Schwartz, while another referred to her as “whining Zionist scum”.
Sheina Gutnick, whose father Reuven Morrison was killed while heroically hurling objects at the Bondi gunmen, said there had been a disturbing shift in antisemitism since 2023.
The grieving mum, 31, opened up about an incident at Westfield shopping centre in Bondi in 2024 when a stranger pointed at her star of David necklace and called her a “f***ing terrorist”.
In response to her testimony this month, an online commentator wrote: “F*** her and her …subhuman father.”
Ajax (Australian Jewish Amateur Association) Junior Football Club President Daniel Onas also gave evidence to the commission, describing a string of incidents that included players being called “f***ing Jews” and parents labelled “Jewish dogs” at an under-18s final.
In response to that testimony, a commentator wrote online, “Hitler should have completely finished his work”.
Meanwhile, testimony from Australia’s Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism, Jillian Segal, attracted comments calling her “Zionist pig,” “Zionist b****” and a “cockroach (that) needs to be sprayed”.
“How do we eradicate this filth and scum?” another commentator wrote about the witnesses. “Can we rework the no longer used oil refineries as, I don’t know, makeshift concentration camps.”
Ms Blicblau described the comments as a “cesspit” and said the evidence before the commission should be subject to fair critical debate, but “it’s got to be done in a respectful way, not in a way that calls for violence and death and annihilation”.
“Imagine if it was said in a playground or in a workplace,” she said.
“We wouldn’t accept it there, so why do we accept it in a place where it can be seen by thousands, if not millions of people?”
Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell addressed the issue during Tuesday’s hearing.
“We have received reports from a number of witnesses concerning a dramatic increase in online hate messages,” she said.
“I should indicate that in one instance the matter has been referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.”
Commissioner Bell said the inquiry was “keeping a close eye” on offensive social media posts and recording them.
“The AFP has received a report of crime in relation to this matter,” an AFP spokesperson told news.com.au.
“An investigation has been commenced by the National Security Investigations team. Further comment will be made at an appropriate time.”
The Dor Foundation is an Australian not-for-profit organisation established to combat antisemitism and hate.
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