Bondi royal commission live updates: Jewish Australians share chilling antisemitism experiences

A Jewish mother, who has appeared under the pseudonym AAP, has told the Royal Commission about shocking insults her children have experienced online and in the school yard.

It included insults like ‘you dirty Jew’ and chants of ‘Jew, Jew, Jew’ as well as joking about dressing up as Hitler or the Bondi shooters for their Year 12 “muck up day” — which is usually a fun, last day off school for leavers.

She said the hatred increased in the wake of the October 7 Hamas terror attack and even prompted her children to claim they didn’t want to be Jewish.

“Very soon after, the sentiment towards Jewish people became very negative,” the third witness said.

“That was shown through the way that the kids spoke at school through social media.

“Some of the things that the kids have shown me (included captions like) ‘we owe Hitler an apology’, ‘the nazis should have finished them off’, ‘Jews are controlling the government’.

“On Holocaust Memorial Day… There was a comment that said, ‘I’m so happy. This makes me so happy’.

“Then comments under another Jewish video (included) ‘why are we normalising racism? Racism only applies to humans’.

“Soon after both my older kids came home telling me that they didn’t want to be Jewish.

“It’s been really hard for them. They don’t, they can’t understand it. They can’t understand why people don’t like Jews.”

The second testimony at the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion today has been provided by a woman known only as “Dina” who is the daughter of a Holocaust survivor.

Her family had moved to Bondi after her grandfather was murdered in the Holocaust.

She told the inquiry that she felt “scared” during the pro-Palestine protest at the Opera House on October 9 just days after the Hamas terror attack on a Nova music festival.

“We heard the vile chants that were coming, expletives about Jews,” she said, giving examples of ‘f..k the Jews’ and ‘where are the Jews?’.

“When you hear angry, violent protesters burning an Israeli flag and shouting ‘where are the Jews?’ encircled by police who are not interfering, as a Jew, you feel scared.”

After the chants, she and her husband discussed taking their Mezuzah off their front door — which is a parchment scroll that identifies the home as Jewish — in fear they could be targeted.

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Dina also described the concern she had when taking her daughter to an emergency department in her Jewish school uniform over whether she would be treated with the same care and respect as others.

The second day of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has opened in Sydney with a testimony from Jewish woman Natalie Levy.

She spoke about feeling safe growing up in Australia but then experiencing a rise in anti-Semitism incidents after the October 7 Hamas terror attack.

Ms Levy said she was in “absolute disbelief” that protestors would say “devastating and awful things about Jews” at the Sydney Opera House just days after the horror attack.

She said her son has now had to “become used to” anti-Semitic threats and his school has tripled their security in fear students will be targeted.

She also described the fear her 15-year-old daughter faced at a public school, including “swastikas etched all around the school” and “children saying Heil Hitler and putting up their arms (up) in a salute”.

Her family had been at a Hanukkah party on the evening of December 14 when the Bondi Beach terror attack occurred and went into lockdown as they heard the shocking news.

“All the safety and security I felt my entire life had been shattered on the 14th of December,” she said.

“We can’t afford to lose any more people. It was a big, big knock to our the Australian community, and we’re all broken and it’s a pain that won’t go away.”

Ms Levy is one of 12 witnesses who will appear before the inquiry on Tuesday after a dozen witnesses yesterday.

Labor frontbencher Mark Butler has refused to be drawn on suggestions the government will unveil a major cash splash in next week’s budget, including cost-of-living relief worth up to $300 for workers.

The Australian newspaper reports the Treasurer is poised to announce an “earned income offset” of between $200 and $300 for every person in Australia who gets a wage or salary and pays tax.

“I’m not going to respond to unsourced speculation in one newspaper this morning,’’ Mr Butler has told Channel 9.

“What I do say is there are tax cuts that will be in this budget on the first of July, on the first of July next year. We took them to the last election.”

Flights bound for Dubai and Sharjah are being held, diverted or turned back as Iranian missiles and drone attacks disrupt airspace across the United Arab Emirates, sending fresh shockwaves through global aviation.

Aviation tracker Flightradar24 reported that multiple aircraft en route to the UAE have been delayed or rerouted as the latest escalation between the US and Iran affects flight paths across the region.

Major hubs, including Dubai International Airport and Zayed International Airport in Abu Dhabi, have placed incoming flights into holding patterns, with several long-haul services diverted to neighbouring countries or forced to return to their origin.

The disruption follows a wave of explosions heard from across the UAE on Monday, as national air defence systems responded to incoming threats. Residents in Dubai and Abu Dhabi reported thunderous booms and streaks of light across the sky as interceptions took place mid-air.

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An oil terminal partly owned by an Australian company has been struck by Iranian air strikes in the UAE city of Fujairah, with three people requiring hospital treatment following the overnight attack.

The VTTI facility, partly owned by IFM Investors, was hit as a tanker north of Fujairah also reported being stuck by projectiles, according to the United Kingdom Maritime Trade Operations, which said all crew were safe and “no environmental impact” had been recorded, though the origin of the projectiles remains unknown.

A fire has broken out at a major UAE oil industry zone after a drone attack originating from Iran, authorities say, as the Gulf state’s military separately intercepted three Iranian missiles over its waters and a fourth crashed into the sea.

Civil defence teams were deployed immediately to contain the blaze at the Fujairah Oil Industry Zone, the Fujairah Media Office said in a statement, adding that three Indian citizens were moderately injured in the attack and taken to hospital.

The UAE defence ministry said on X that its forces had intercepted three missiles, with a fourth falling into the sea.

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Donald Trump said the United States has shot down “seven small” Iranian boats after Tehran targeted vessels in the Strait of Hormuz, as tensions continue to escalate in the region.

He said “no damage” had been reported from the strikes, aside from an incident involving a South Korean vessel, adding: “Iran has taken some shots at unrelated Nations with respect to the Ship Movement, PROJECT FREEDOM, including a South Korean Cargo Ship. Perhaps it’s time for South Korea to come and join the mission! We’ve shot down seven small Boats or, as they like to call them, ‘fast’ Boats. It’s all they have left,” Mr Trump said.

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US President Donald Trump has warned Iranian forces they would be “blown off the face of the Earth” if they attempt to target US ships in the Strait of Hormuz or Persian Gulf, as tensions continue to rise despite a fragile ceasefire.

In a phone interview with Fox News, Mr Trump said Iranian negotiators were being “far more malleable” than before, while also claiming on Truth Social that US forces had “shot down” seven Iranian boats after Tehran targeted vessels attempting to pass through the strait.