Four months of grief, tension and pain: key moments from the antisemitism royal commission

The Bondi terror attack in December last year resulted in 15 deaths, prompting the establishment of a royal commission into antisemitism and social cohesion. The commission's first hearing saw Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, who conducted 10 funerals in three days after the attack, call for a national reckoning on what it means to be an Australian. Ulman urged the next generation to understand "what freedom requires of them" and to "rediscover the confidence to say that some things are right and some things are wrong."

The commission's interim report highlighted that police had been warned of a high threat of attack at the Chanukah by the Sea festival in Bondi, but the NSW police had not conducted a comprehensive risk assessment. The report also warned that tensions between Iran and Israel were likely to increase the risk of attacks on the Australian Jewish community.

Survivors of the Bondi attack, including Sheina Gutnick and Arsen Ostrovsky, testified about the rise in antisemitic comments and hate after the attack. Gutnick said she had "received and seen hundreds of comments" that she "should have been killed in the Bondi attack, calls to kill Israelis, [and] comments celebrating violence against Jews." Ostrovsky noted that images of his injuries were met with messages of solidarity, but were quickly followed by hate, abuse, and AI manipulation.

The Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (Apan) initially sought to appear before the commission, but was refused leave to do so. Apan was granted leave later on, during which its questioning was criticized by some in the Jewish community. However, the commission defended Apan's right to appear, emphasizing that it had not hijacked the inquiry for their own purposes.