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Australia begins hearings into Bondi Beach attack

Royal Commission due to deliver final report on Dec. 14, exactly one year after the Bondi Beach attack.

Christine Chen (Reuters)
Sydney, Australia
Mon, May 4, 2026 Published on May. 4, 2026 Published on 2026-05-04T10:30:54+07:00

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Sheina Gutnick, whose father was killed in a mass shooting at Bondi Beach, speaks to the media after the first hearing block of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney on May 4, 2026. An Australian inquiry opened public hearings into a shooting that killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach. Sheina Gutnick, whose father was killed in a mass shooting at Bondi Beach, speaks to the media after the first hearing block of the Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion in Sydney on May 4, 2026. An Australian inquiry opened public hearings into a shooting that killed 15 people at a Jewish festival on Sydney's Bondi Beach. (AFP/George Chan)

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ustralia began public hearings on Monday into the Bondi Beach mass shooting in December, part of a wide-ranging national inquiry with witnesses set to share their experience of escalating antisemitism in the country.

The attack, which left 15 dead at a Jewish Hanukkah celebration, fueled calls for tougher gun controls and more action to tackle hatred towards Jews, and followed a spate of antisemitic incidents in Australia.

Virginia Bell, a retired judge appointed to lead the Royal Commission inquiry, said the first block of public hearings would investigate the nature and prevalence of antisemitism in the country.

"The sharp spike in antisemitism that we've witnessed in Australia has been mirrored in other Western countries and seems clearly linked to events in the Middle East," Bell said.

"It's important that people understand how quickly those events can prompt ugly displays of hostility towards Jewish Australians simply because they're Jews."

The Royal Commission on Antisemitism and Social Cohesion has received more than 5,700 submissions from the public.

Witnesses on Monday will include the daughter of a Bondi attack victim, community leaders and a Holocaust survivor. Some witnesses have also been granted anonymity due to concerns they could be subjected to "hostile attention".

"It's fitting that we begin by taking evidence from ordinary members of the Jewish community about their lived experience of antisemitism," Bell said.

The inquiry released its interim report last Thursday that advised increased security around Jewish public events and further counter-terrorism and gun reforms among 14 ​initial recommendations.

A second block of hearings later in the month will focus on the circumstances leading up to the Bondi Beach attack and issues raised in the interim report.

The commission is due to deliver its final report on Dec. 14, exactly one year on from the Bondi Beach attack.

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