Royal commissioner issues warning over harassment of witnesses, officer defends patrols at Bondi Hanukkah event

The royal commissioner examining antisemitism in Australia has issued a scathing warning to people who have intimidated and harassed witnesses who have given evidence to the inquiry.

Dozens of witnesses have given evidence to the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion this month, providing examples of abuse they have received for being Jewish.

Royal Commissioner Virginia Bell opened Tuesday's hearing by saying she was disturbed by the number of reports of continued abuse against lived-experience witnesses who have spoken at the inquiry.

"We have received reports from a number of witnesses concerning a dramatic increase in online hate messages," she said.

At least one matter has been referred to the Australian Federal Police for investigation.

Commissioner Bell said the messages showed an "undiluted level of hatred and bigotry" directed towards Jewish Australians.

Police resources at Chanukah event questioned

In Tuesday's hearing, scrutiny then turned to the allocation of NSW Police resources at the Chanukah by the Sea celebration at Bondi Beach, where the terror attack occurred on December 14.

Private Jewish security organisation Community Security Group NSW (CSG NSW) had requested officers be stationed at the event.

Four officers were present at the event when the shooting started, with CSG NSW officers telling the commission it was denied its request to have police on patrol for the entirety of the event.

The same event had received additional support from NSW Police's Jewish community safety program Operation Shelter in 2023, but this was not the case in 2024 and 2025.

A NSW Police superintendent in charge of overseeing Sydney's eastern suburbs told the commission the reason for the additional resources in 2023 related to the increase in antisemitic incidents following Hamas's attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

She said she could not recall the number of officers and crews assigned to the 2023 and 2024 Chanukah by the Sea events.

The superintendent cannot be named, with NSW Police unable to comment on the reason for the non-publication order on the woman's identity.

"The NSWPF continues to support the inquiries being undertaken by the Royal Commission and is unable to comment on non-publication orders in relation to various police witnesses participating in the hearings," a spokesperson said in a statement.

The superintendent said Operation Shelter activities had been de-escalated prior to the Bondi terror attack due to a reduction in violent antisemitic incidents.

She said she was aware of CSG NSW's request for a police presence at last year's event at Bondi, but decisions around resource allocation were the responsibility of her subordinate, an operations inspector at the Eastern Suburbs Police Area Command.

She said she had no concerns about the resources the inspector had assigned prior to the event.

"I've worked with him very closely for four years, and he is a very dedicated and thorough police officer," she said.

"If he was worried with anything, he absolutely would have discussed it with me."

The operations inspector cannot be named, and the commission heard he would not be called to give evidence, but the reasons for his absence would not be made public.

'A lot of unease from the community'

The superintendent told the commission she attended last year's Bondi event briefly earlier in the evening, before moving on to a similar Hanukkah celebration in Dover Heights.

The CSG NSW chief operating officer on Monday recounted a phone call with the operations inspector about the group's request for police to be stationed at Bondi throughout the event.

"[I said that] given the threat environment our community was facing, the fact that it was an open-air event, the fact that CSG could not be armed in that environment … and given the number of people expected to attend the event, we requested a static presence," he said.

The anonymous witness said the inspector said NSW Police did not believe a static presence was required "based on a risk assessment they would have undertaken internally."

"I said there would be a lot of unease from the community not having a static police presence on the ground," the witness said.

ASIO released holiday threat assessment days before attack

Days prior to the December 14 attack, ASIO released a holiday threat assessment warning terrorists could target religious festivals like Christmas and Hanukkah.

The assessment did not single out distinct risks to Hanukkah celebrations and said violent protests were more likely.

Counsel assisting Richard Lancaster SC put to the superintendent that NSW Police had "significantly understated" the risk to the Chanukah by the Sea event last year.

The superintendent rejected the suggestion.

"The event was planned with the information available to us at the time and we allocated resources that I believed at the time was appropriate," she said.

"I had no specific intelligence of the direct threat to the Hanukkah event.

During three hours of cross-examination, the superintendent was also asked to comment on an email sent on December 11 by the operations inspector to two command inspectors tasked with attending the Bondi event.

"Please take a car crew or two with you and provide a [high visibility] presence. No need to stay the entire duration, but your presence will ensure the community feel safe," the email stated.

Mr Lancaster put to the superintendent that this could have been interpreted as a direction to drop into the event periodically.

The superintendent said the email was "poorly worded" but did not accept its meaning had been misinterpreted.

"[The operations inspector would] know that my expectations are, I was intending that they would be there for the duration of the event," she said.