Last week, something happened at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion which brought into focus an issue at the heart of the problem we now confront.

Giving evidence about the pro-Palestinian protest on the steps of the Opera House on October 9, 2023, David Ossip, the president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies, was cross-examined in the context of why these demonstrations were taking place.

It was put to him “you are aware aren’t you that Israeli Defence Force fighter jets began conducting airstrikes in the Gaza Strip around 5.30pm Sydney time on October 7?”

“This is a royal commission on antisemitism,” Ossip firmly replied. “We are dealing with a protest where protesters shouted ‘f..k the Jews’, ‘where are the Jews?’ and said ‘I am going to kill them all!’.

“I’m a bit confused. Why we are getting caught up in the minutiae of the timeline of a foreign military operation?”

Exactly.

The blood of 1200 innocent people was not yet dry, terrorists were still roaming through civilian centres in southern Israel and 251 people had been taken hostage but, in Sydney, people thought it was OK to go out and attack Australian Jews.

Well it’s not OK and the tragedy of Bondi that occurred 797 days later can be traced to what happened that night at the Opera House.

What we saw at the Opera House was a dangerous and demented view of the world that justifies hate and violence at home based on what is perceived to be happening abroad.

It is this nexus between the foreign and the domestic that the royal commission must tackle head on. The hatred we saw at two of our national icons, the Opera House and Bondi Beach, is not ­isolated, it is now mainstream. To deny this is to deny reality.

One only has to have an ear to the heartbreaking personal testimony at the royal commission – the daily violence, intimidation and harassment encountered in the classroom, on the sporting field and in the workplace – to know it’s open season on Australian Jews.

If the royal commission is going to make a real difference and turn back the tide of antisemitism, it must lay down new red lines that say clearly that we, as Australians, have zero tolerance for the people who fan the flames of hate and the places where it is fostered.

If it does not, if it equivocates, if it hesitates, our society will continue to fragment and our quality of life will continue to deteriorate. It will be only a matter of time ­before there is no longer a thriving Jewish community in Australia.

This is the time for big, bold and immediate action to right this wrong. For hard and, dare I say it, unpopular decisions, that go beyond anything we had previously contemplated.

We are in a crisis of our own making with the country now at a tipping point.

Our political and civic leaders have failed to fulfil their fundamental duty to protect the public.

We are all less safe, Jew and non-Jew alike. Many of our leaders do not get it. They do not get the scale of the problem. They do not get the drivers of the problem.

They do not know how to solve the problem.

And this is why there was such strong public support for the establishment of a royal commission on antisemitism.

It was not just because of Australia’s deadliest ever terrorist attack at Bondi, it was because the public had lost confidence in our government’s ability and willingness to do what is required to protect all Australians.

What is required now is a policy of zero tolerance for antisemitism and hate, to drive it back to the fringes of society, where it belongs.

I discuss these issues and others in my personal submission to the royal commission, lodged nearly two months ago.

At the time I made it clear I would welcome the opportunity to be called as a witness.

I heard nothing until last Friday afternoon when I was informed via the royal commission’s legal team that I would not be called.

The last public hearing is scheduled for later this month on the topic of social cohesion, a topic I have been more than active on over the past three years.

I have taken this stand, notwithstanding the significant threats I have received.

End hate and violence

I firmly believe that if the royal commission is to effectively bring the hate and violence to an end, it must do two things.

First, make it very clear that the demonisation and double standards directed towards Israel have gone well beyond legitimate criticism to the point that it is now fanning the flames of antisemitism in Australia. Jewish Australians have been targeted by those who hold them responsible for events abroad and by those who oppose the very existence of the State of Israel. Antizionism is now a modern form of antisemitism.

Second, put in place a range of practical measures that better protect the Jewish community and enhance social cohesion.

Attending to only the second task and not the first is akin to building a higher fence around the Jewish community without disarming those who want to break in.

Seven essential steps

In terms of what those specific measures should be, the commission has received a detailed set of submissions that has been agreed between the peak representative organisations of the Jewish community, including the Dor Foundation.

Many of these areas are ones I touched upon in my speech at Bondi on December 17, 2025 – three days after the massacre.

I will briefly mention some of those important issues here.

First, ban the hate preachers.

On October 8, 2023, in western Sydney, Islamic preachers said the Hamas atrocities committed the day earlier were for them an act of courage and pride.

When the ­Muslim community hears such a message it is no surprise that a concerning number in that community are radicalised in their beliefs and outlook, including those who carried out the Bondi Beach massacre.

Second, ban the extremist organisations.

It took years for our federal government and our law enforcement agencies to finally act against Hizb ut-Tahir. Why did it take so long when the evidence was overwhelming that this group was grooming young men in Australian schools and online with their extreme views?

There are many more organisations in Australia that should suffer the same fate.

Third, more actively prosecute and punish those who incite violence and hate.

If there are sanctions for wrongful conduct it will deter others. In the absence of such sanctions, the aggressors are emboldened.

It is welcome to see charges being laid against those who went online to threaten witnesses to the royal commission, but there needs to be more of it and it needs to be handled in a systemic, efficient way.

As the head of ASIO Mike Burgess has said, “inflamed language leads to violence”. These are not jokes, these are not hoaxes.

Fourth, stop the hateful protests.

Of course, there is a legitimate right to protest but not in the way the protests against the Gaza war were conducted in our capital cities and across university campuses in the aftermath of the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023.

These co-ordinated protests became incubators of hate and diverted significant police resources from other important duties. They have contributed to the dangerous environment in Australia.

There should be a permit system for mass gatherings across Australia to ensure they can be appropriately policed and appropriately located.

Fifth, invest in education.

There needs to be a complete overhaul of antisemitism-related training and teaching in our schools, universities, workplaces and across the public service and institutions of government.

We need to be unapologetic about the need to focus on antisemitism and rebuilding social ­cohesion.

Antisemitism is the scourge we face today. We have collective responsibility to stop it, otherwise it will only grow.

Sixth, immigration.

Australia has prided itself on a non-discriminatory immigration policy but now is the time to be more rigorous and selective.

We have a character test, but it needs to be more explicit – screening out those who hold anti-democratic views that do not align with our values of tolerance, fairness and respect.

Seven, hard security.

It’s time our governments, federal and state, moved from a piecemeal and reactive approach to security funding for the Jewish community and its schools and institutions. Security funding should be covered by the state.

Turning back the tide

There are many more specific measures that are being put before the royal commission for its ­consideration.

These range from a digital duty of care for the social media platforms to new standards of conduct for our arts, sporting and university sectors, and to better co-ordination and resourcing across our law-enforcement and intelligence agencies.

These are all important.

The online space, in particular, should be regarded not only as the epicentre and an amplifier of hate, but as a beacon of harm in its own right. Strong measures to create safer online spaces for all Australians – adult and children alike – are urgent. The targeting and harassment of witnesses to the royal commission offers direct evidence of this harm.

The dramatic rise in antisemitism in Australia following the Hamas attack on October 7, 2023, should not be seen as temporary, only to be explained away by reference to the Middle East conflict or the nefarious interference of foreign actors, specifically Iran.

There is something deeper and more troubling at play.

The rational have become the irrational, the most educated among us the most intolerant, and those in positions of authority with responsibilities to lead have allowed themselves to be led, by the mob.

Turning back the tide of antisemitism in Australia has never been a partisan issue. It has always been a leadership issue. Picture: Gaye Gerard/NewsWire

Turning back the tide of antisemitism in Australia has never been a partisan issue. It has always been a leadership issue. And now that leadership role falls to the royal commission.

Unfortunately, political and civil leaders have failed to set red lines that were not to be crossed, and this is why we are where we are.

The consequence of this failure is the unprecedented hate directed towards the Jewish community, culminating in the Bondi attack.

One hopes we can avoid another such tragedy. But whether we do or whether we don’t, the recommendations for the royal commission should be the same.

The recommendations that the royal commission put forth must seek to do everything that is humanly possible to protect Jewish Australians, enhance Australian values and reset our pathway forward as a nation.

For my television documentary on antisemitism I interviewed many prominent Australians including former prime ministers John Howard and Julia Gillard, former governor-general Sir Peter Cosgrove, and many others.

But the most powerful interviews were with the brave Holocaust survivors who issued a warning that history was repeating itself.

They no longer recognise Australia, the country that had welcomed them with open arms more than 70 years prior.

Their message to all those who are prepared to listen was don’t be a bystander.

I hope the recommendations from the royal commission are such that this message is abundantly clear.

The rules must be set, en­forcement must take place and the responsibility rests on every Australian to call out and stamp out antisemitism wherever they see it.

Only with zero tolerance do we have a hope of getting Australia back to where it should be, back to where it must be.

Josh Frydenberg is a former treasurer of Australia and The Australian’s 2024 Australian of the Year for his efforts to combat antisemitism.