A former attorney-general will detail the escalating anti-Semitic abuse he has endured in the public realm at an inquiry following the nation’s deadliest terrorist attack.
Existing security arrangements for Jewish communities and their future safety needs will also be in the spotlight at the anti-Semitism royal commission as it begins a fifth round of hearings on Monday.
The inquiry was called in January after 15 innocent people were killed and dozens more injured when two gunmen opened fire at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach on December 14.
Former Labor attorney-general Mark Dreyfus is expected to take the witness stand, alongside Queensland Jewish Board of Deputies president Jason Steinberg and two representatives from Jewish security group CSG.
The senior Jewish MP, whose Melbourne electoral office was one of multiple vandalised with red paint in 2024, will join three other witnesses who are expected to share their experiences.
In a personal submission to the inquiry, released in June, Mr Dreyfus detailed being confronted by relentless anti-Semitic abuse directed at him online and in public since Hamas’s October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
The former frontbencher, who in November was appointed special envoy for international human rights, used his submission to call for a tightening of gun ownership restrictions and a sweeping expansion on hate speech laws.
The hearings are also expected to probe security risk assessments and the relationship between law enforcement agencies and Jewish security groups.
CSG urged police to attend the Hanukkah celebration at Bondi, noting the “likely” threat of an attack due to mounting examples of anti-Semitism, the inquiry heard previously.
But a police threat assessment set up for major events such as New Year’s Eve, Anzac Day, Mardi Gras and the Jewish High Holy Days was not performed for Hanukkah festivities, the commission heard.
At the time of the shooting, four NSW Police officers were present at the celebration.
“We treated the event based on the information we had at the time,” a NSW Police superintendent, speaking under a pseudonym, earlier told the inquiry.
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