WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) 鈥� A wide-ranging Australian inquiry examining antisemitism in the country after a heard Monday from Australian Jews who said escalating hatred has left them fearful and vulnerable.
Fifteen people were killed when two gunmen opened fire at the celebration on Bondi Beach in December. Father and son are accused of carrying out the massacre with guns they owned legally, in a country with tight controls on firearms. The attack, which followed a wave of in Australia, was inspired by the Islamic State group, authorities said.
The mass shooting prompted a on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, the highest form of inquiry in Australia, that began public hearings in Sydney on Monday. The two-week sitting is due to scrutinize the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in Australia鈥檚 institutions and society.
Further hearings this year will examine other topics before the commission publishes its final report in December.
鈥淭he sharp spike in antisemitism that we鈥檝e witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East,鈥� said Commissioner Virginia Bell. 鈥淚t鈥檚 important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility toward Jewish Australians simply because they鈥檙e Jews.鈥�
Bondi attack followed a surge in hate crimes
All witnesses called to give evidence Monday were Jewish Australians who recounted their experiences of hatred, some speaking under pseudonyms out of fear for their safety. The daughter of one of those killed in the Bondi attacks said that a year earlier she was verbally abused while carrying her baby in a Sydney shopping mall by a man who spotted her Star of David necklace.
鈥淚 felt shocked, exposed and unsafe,鈥� said Sheina Gutnick. 鈥淭here were many people around me but no one intervened.鈥�
Her father , hurled a brick at one of the gunmen who attacked the gathering at the popular Sydney beach in December, before Morrison was shot and killed. Gutnick said she was cautious of attending events with her family in public places or traveling to certain parts of Sydney.
Australian Jews told the hearing Monday that the Bondi attacks followed a surge in antisemitic incidents since the war between began on Oct. 7, 2023. In the following year, more than 2,000 episodes were reported to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which tracks such figures, compared to a previous record of just under 500 the year before.
Jewish Australians recount assaults and abuse
Such escalation has also been reported and elsewhere. But Australia’s small Jewish population was particularly shocked because its members had not registered such a volume of serious threats before, witnesses said Monday.
鈥淣ow everyone is scared all the time,鈥� said Toby Raphael, vice president of Sydney鈥檚 Newtown Synagogue, which was daubed with swastikas during a wave of antisemitic crimes in the city in 2025.
Raphael said he had once told congregants there was no need for security at the synagogue, but the ramp-up in hate-fueled attacks had changed that. He added that he was part of a parent security group at his son鈥檚 Jewish school, which is also protected by professional guards carrying guns.
鈥淲hy do kids have to go to school like that?鈥� Raphael said. 鈥淭his is the world that the Jews of Australia live in now and it needs to change.鈥�
Antisemitism in Australia was growing in profile before the Bondi shooting because of a spate of attacks on Jewish schools, businesses and places of worship. Australia鈥檚 government in August at least two of the crimes and cut diplomatic ties with Tehran.
Some of those giving evidence to the inquiry on Monday cited these episodes when they said they were considering leaving Australia or already planned to move abroad.
Others spoke of being verbally or physically attacked or having crowds of pro-Palestinian protesters arrive at their synagogues. Alex Ryvchin, a Jewish group leader whose house was targeted by arson in 2025, said he believed Australia was 鈥渙n a path to catastrophe,鈥� after the crime at his home and he warned reporters that someone would die.
鈥淭his was January, and by December there was a horrific massacre which has transformed us permanently,鈥� he told Monday鈥檚 hearing.
The hearings follow a report urging gun reform
The massacre roiled Australia, where serious gun crime has been rare since controls were tightened after a mass shooting in Tasmania 30 years ago. Australia鈥檚 federal and state governments are now considering further reforms.
An interim report from the Royal Commission released in April, which examined the capacity of Australian law enforcement and the security services to respond to antisemitic crimes, that Australia鈥檚 leaders prioritize enacting nationally consistent gun laws and a weapons buyback.
Sajid Akram was shot dead by police at the crime scene. He was a licensed shooter who legally owned the guns used.
His son was wounded but survived. Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act, 15 counts of murder and 40 counts of attempted murder. He has entered no pleas.
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