A high-profile witness has told a royal commission that antisemitism is a “virus” which has evolved over time, with aggressors on the far right and far left of politics. Source: ABC News.
Dozens of people appeared this week at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney to share their experiences of antisemitism in schools, workplaces and the community.
The inquiry was called after 15 people were killed at a Hanukkah celebration at Bondi on December 14, 2025.
Special Envoy to Combat Antisemitism in Australia, Jillian Segal, yesterday said the fastest growing form of antisemitism in Australia was the conflation of criticism of the Israeli regime with the Jewish community.
Ms Segal said some appeared to believe it was “fashionable” to adopt such views, saying education was needed to address the issue.
“We have to move the thinking and the culture of the country,” she said.
Ms Segal said she had noticed a shift since the Bondi attack, and there appeared to be greater recognition of concerns which had been raised by the Jewish community since October 2023.
“What the Jewish community was experiencing and complaining about … wasn’t a collection of isolated incidents,” she said.
“It was very real and very dangerous to the country.”
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High-profile witness tells royal commission that antisemitism is a ‘virus’ (By Pheobe Pin, ABC News)
