The Australian, 27 May 2026
Holocaust denial, death threats directed at royal commission witnesses
Dor Foundation CEO warns online attacks confirm 'vital' need for inquiry
By James Dowling
Read the article online at The Australian
More than a thousand hateful or antisemitic messages have been directed at witnesses appearing before the Bondi royal commission this month, according to a Jewish non-profit which handed over its findings to authorities.
The Dor Foundation, whose chief executive Tahli Blicblau gave evidence to the Antisemitism and Social Cohesion Royal Commission, released on Wednesday an analysis of online hate directed at witnesses from the first hearing block, in which 74 individual witnesses testified.
The Dor Foundation said it identified more than a thousand offensive posts and replies on Twitter/X, Facebook, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok, and YouTube between May 4 and 25. One of those targeted was an anonymous teenage girl who detailed the antisemitic bullying she faced in school.
The “most egregious examples” were passed to authorities, it said, including eSafety Commissioner Julie Inman-Grant and the royal commission.
Royal commissioner Virginia Bell on Tuesday warned she was “keeping a close eye” on potential witness intimidation and reprisal, including through online commentary, which the Dor Foundation said its referral had prompted.
The material it flagged included numerous conspiracy theories, mockeries of the Holocaust, and misogynistic tropes wound into antisemitic stereotypes.
“The abuse included death threats, Holocaust glorification, dehumanising racist slurs and intimidation campaigns targeting ordinary Australians, including children. This was not abstract hostility, but the direct targeting of individuals giving evidence about this very subject matter,” Ms Blicblau said.
“Many of the people targeted were not public figures. They are individuals sharing deeply personal experiences, but the message sent to them online was unmistakeable: speak up, and you will be punished for it.
“The royal commission was established to understand the lived experience of antisemitism. The online abuse that followed the first block of witness testimony is not incidental to the commission’s work – it is the commission’s work. It makes the need for this inquiry abundantly clear, and its ongoing work absolutely vital.”
In examples annexed to the report, online users pushed to “execute all Zionists”, called one witness a “fat oven dodger” and praised Adolf Hitler.
The commission’s first witness Sheina Gutnick was targeted, along with her late father Reuven Morrison who was murdered in the Bondi massacre.
“F..k her and her chabad subhuman father,” one comment reads.
Antisemitism envoy Jillian Segal was branded a “cockroach” who “needs to be sprayed”, while the son of Holocaust survivors, Anthony Halas, was taunted with the phrase “Holohoax”.
At the beginning of the inquiry’s second week, a young girl given the pseudonym AAG described how she was targeted for being a Jew. When her testimony circulated online a social media user replied to say it was “terrible, that only a couple of students” were using Nazi salutes.
“We need to pick up those numbers. That is how we used to salute the flag and pledge allegiance,” the post reads. “White Power. Heil Hitler. Deport K...s.”
Ms Blicblau said social media platforms were fostering antisemitism.
“We wouldn’t tolerate this sort of language or conduct in the physical world, and we shouldn’t tolerate it online where it can reach millions of people,” she said.
“Our online spaces have become the front line in the fight against antisemitism. Extreme hate no longer stays on the fringes. It spreads fast, it amplifies fast, and it becomes deeply personal very quickly.”
Ms Bell on Tuesday said the Australian Federal Police were investigating one case of alleged intimidation, which the AFP confirmed.
“We have received reports from a number of witnesses concerning a dramatic increase in online hate messages after they have given evidence,” the commissioner said.
The Australian previously reported how prominent anti-Israel activist and columnist Clementine Ford had joined the pile-on against Melbourne saxophonist and composer Joshua Moshe after he detailed being doxxed and having his career stunted.
Ford replied to an article reporting his testimony, saying: “Oh well.”