Andrew L. Urban.
Like the PM who aimed at guns not radical Islam in response to the Bondi massacre, the Royal Commissioner is also blind to a key question: what role did the Government’s actions, inactions and behaviour play in the surge of antisemitism post October 7? Maybe the two are connected?
Five working days have been added to the deadline for the Royal Commission, December 14 – 18, a full Mon to Fri working week. It ended its public hearings this week two days early. It spent an hour on the controversial ‘cross-examination’ of David Ossip (president of the NSW Jewish Board of Deputies) on 4 August 2026, during Hearing Block 7. The questioning was conducted by counsel for the Palestine Action Group (PAG; Dominic Toomey SC) and the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN; Ragni Mathur SC). (This isn’t the place to get into the profoundly mistaken decision to allow this … The PAG was today declared a global terrorist organisation by the US.)
In total, that is over seven working days the Commission could have devoted to witnesses from the Government, notably the Prime Minister, the Home Affairs Minister, the Attorney-General and the Foreign Minister.
Executive Council of Australian Jewry president Daniel Aghion and co-chief Alex Ryvchin said the commission had done well in shining a light on the lived experiences of Jewish Australians, arguing there would be no benefit in hearing hate preachers and protesters give evidence as the country already knew who they were. Ryvchin said the royal commission format, which is not as rigorous as a criminal court proceeding, would be exploited to “pontificate and cite” and do “profound harm to this country”. (Like the Commission’s decision to allow the Palestinian ambush of Ossip.)
He is right.
We don’t need to hear any more from the hate-mongers; heard more than enough already. We do need to hear from those in the Government who did nothing to shut them down and remained silent or ineffectual while antisemitic violence flourished.
Well, there’s the problem; would the Commission rather NOT hear from the Ministers?