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<\/p>\nThe head of the Jewish community that was targeted in the Bondi Beach terror attack will be one of the last witnesses to front the royal commission on antisemitism as the inquiry marks its final day of public hearings.<\/p>\n
More than 340 witnesses have given evidence during the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion’s 62 hearing days, with more than 20,000 submissions received.<\/p>\n
Live updates, reactions and contributions from ABC readers.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:36amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:36am<\/p>\n
Inquiry on a short adjournment<\/p>\n
Commissioner Bell has finished speaking for now.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:35amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:35am<\/p>\n
Short extension to report to avoid ‘distraction’ on one-year anniversary<\/p>\n
The commissioner says important policy proposals are dependent on recommendations from the royal commission.<\/p>\n
She says she is aware of concern in the Jewish community that delivering the report on the one-year anniversary of the terror attack would be a “distraction”.<\/p>\n
“The 14th of December is the anniversary of the massacre, it will be a solemn occasion marked by memorial,” Commissioner Bell says.<\/p>\n
She says she understands that concern, and to “avoid that distraction I have asked for a short extension of the term with a view for the submission of my final report on Friday the 18th of December”.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:32amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:32am<\/p>\n
Commissioner will not seek inquiry extension<\/p>\n
“Laying out the picture of lived experience of antisemitism is a critical part of any steps to combat that phenomenon,” Commissioner Bell says.<\/p>\n
She adds she’s required to hand down her report no later than December 14, 2026.<\/p>\n
“The commission has worked to address each of the terms of reference in accordance with that timetable and\u00a0 I do not seek any meaningful extension of it.”<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:29amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:29am<\/p>\n
More than 14,000 members of the Jewish community address inquiry<\/p>\n
Commissioner Bell says the Jewish Australian community is quite small, estimated to be “fewer than 120,000 members”.<\/p>\n
“This commission has heard directly from more than 14,000 of them,” she says.<\/p>\n
“The commission is well placed to document the nature and extent of the antisemitism that has flourished in Australia, against a backdrop of events in the Middle East. Particularly since the 7th of October, 2023.”<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:27amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:27am<\/p>\n
Focus on ‘hearing from ordinary Jewish Australians’<\/p>\n
“The Bondi Hanukkah attack came after more than two years of a marked increase of antisemitism throughout Australia,” Commissioner Bell says.\u00a0<\/p>\n
She says the inquiry “requires the assessment of the impact of that antisemitism on the daily life of Jewish Australians”.<\/p>\n
“Predominantly the commission’s focus has been on hearing from ordinary Jewish Australians from all walks of life,” she says.<\/p>\n
She says there are also thousands of submissions from Jewish Australians, and a number from community engagement events.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:24amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:24am<\/p>\n
Commissioner to give account on agency response to terror attack<\/p>\n
The commissioner says she is satisfied “regardless of whether Marcus chooses to cooperate further with the commission” that she is in a position to give a full and fair account\u00a0about the response to Bondi.<\/p>\n
She’s speaking on a term of reference which asks “whether in relation to the Bondi Hanukkah attack our intelligence agency and our law enforcement agencies operated or performed to maximum effectiveness”.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:21amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:21am<\/p>\n
Contact with Marcus will ‘not occur’<\/p>\n
Continuing on about the situation relating to Marcus, she says due to concerns about prejudicing current criminal proceedings, a plan to contact him will “not occur”.<\/p>\n
This is because the proposal to call him in public via audio-visual link or otherwise could be risky.<\/p>\n
The commissioner says his dealings with ASIO took place more than six years ago.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:18amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:18am<\/p>\n
Man with ‘relevant’ Bondi information given offer to share evidence<\/p>\n
The commissioner is now speaking about a man who says he gave information to ASIO that was “relevant to the Bondi Hanukkah attack”.<\/p>\n
“Marcus is overseas. According to reports, he has been refused a visa to return to Australia on the ground that the Department of Home Affairs is not satisfied that he has a genuine intention to stay in Australia,” she says.<\/p>\n
Commissioner Bell says the minister of Home Affairs last Friday was reported as saying that “any information that Marcus [is] possessing has been declassified and could be given publicly to the commission”.<\/p>\n
She says before this, the inquiry had been in contact with Marcus’s solicitors and arrangements will be made for him to give evidence from overseas this month.<\/p>\n
“To date, Marcus has not taken up the offer,” she says, noting legal concerns on his end.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:13amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:13am<\/p>\n
Proposal to make confidential elements public after trial<\/p>\n
Parts of the royal commission that heard about the Bondi terror attack will be the “subject of a confidential volume” in Commissioner Bell’s final report, she says.<\/p>\n
“After the conclusion of the criminal proceedings I propose that substantial parts of the confidential volumes of the interim and final reports should be made public,” she says.<\/p>\n
She says parts relating to national security would not be made available.<\/p>\n
Wed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:11amWed 26 Aug 2026 at 10:11am<\/p>\n
Commissioner has started speaking<\/p>\n
Commissioner Bell has taken her seat and begun her closing address.<\/p>\n
She’s started by acknowledging how “frustrating” the aftermath of Bondi has been for some.<\/p>\n
“I’m conscious that many members of the community, and particularly members of the Jewish community, must find it frustrating that a royal commission established in the aftermath of the Bondi Hanukkah attack has not been seen publicly to be investigating what led to the attack and whether it might have been prevented,” she says.<\/p>\n
She says the commission had to “take care” to conduct the inquiry “in a way that does not engage prejudice to pending criminal proceedings”.<\/p>\n
Parts of the royal commission relating to the attack took place in closed hearings.<\/p>\n
Show more<\/p>\n
Headed by commissioner Virginia Bell SC, the inquiry was called to examine the circumstances around the Bondi Beach terror attack, in which 15 people were killed during a Hanukkah celebration on December 14, 2025.<\/p>\n
Ms Bell delivered a closing address on Wednesday morning and announced she had requested a short four-day extension on the delivery of her final report, to avoid distracting from the first anniversary of the Bondi Beach terror attack.<\/p>\n
On the final day the inquiry was expected to hear from witnesses including Chabad of Bondi director Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son-in-law Rabbi Eli Schlanger was among those who died in last year’s shooting.<\/p>\n
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Rabbi Eli Schlanger died in the Bondi Beach attack.<\/p>\n
Holocaust survivor Janina “Nina” Bassat has been called to appear, with the organiser of a paddle out to honour Bondi Beach shooting victims also set to give evidence.<\/p>\n
Multicultural NSW CEO Joseph La Posta will discuss the One Mitzvah for Bondi initiative, which encouraged people to take part in simple acts of kindness after the terror attack.<\/p>\n
The inquiry will also hear from Amar Singh, whose organisation Turbans for Australia served food to the community and first responders affected by the shooting.<\/p>\n
The final group of witnesses has largely given evidence about the work being done to foster social cohesion in communities, highlighting the role of education, sport and arts and culture in such efforts.<\/p>\n
Previous hearing blocks have examined the lived experiences of Jewish Australians.<\/p>\n
The inquiry has spent most of its time in Sydney, with public hearings also held in Melbourne.<\/p>\n
Commission staff have visited Jewish communities in Perth, Brisbane and Adelaide, with Ms Bell earlier this year extending an invitation to meet with families of those killed in the terror attack.<\/p>\n
Attention turns to final report<\/p>\n
After Wednesday, the commission will turn to drafting the final report and recommendations, which are due before the first anniversary of the terror attack.<\/p>\n
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