A royal commission has heard that violent antisemitic abuse flooded a Jewish political candidate's social media as part of a broader campaign to intimidate Jewish Australians out of public life. Joshua Kirsh, who launched an independent bid for the New South Wales upper house in late 2025, found his online advertisements deluged with antisemitic tropes, abuse, and threats.
"The ads … were deluged with antisemitic comments of a nature that was particularly vitriolic, in the sense of … 'Fuck off you Zionist cunt'," Kirsh told the commission on Wednesday. He also cited conspiracy theories about Israel paying people to firebomb places in Australia, claims that the October 7 massacre was a false flag, and the sentiment that "we've got enough Jewish politicians already." Kirsh catalogued the abuse for the Executive Council of Australian Jewry's annual report on antisemitic incidents, a process he described as exhausting and distressing.
Kirsh remains a candidate but says Jewish friends have been intimidated from public life. "I've had a lot of conversations with people in the Jewish community who are incredibly bright and talented and would be perfect fits to be more involved in politics in this country. But their view is that they can't bear the risk of receiving the kind of backlash I have received."
Kirsh also testified that in 2019, an Australasian Union of Jewish Students event he helped organise to celebrate Purim - often described as Jewish Halloween - was directly threatened with gun violence, years before the Bondi massacre. An anonymous correspondent calling themselves "Kill the Jews" messaged organisers: "Me and my friends have already purchased six automatic rifles as we plan to kill hundreds of Jewish students on the eve of Purim festivals." The threat, which Kirsh described as "terrifying," was reported to the Community Security Group and police. The event went ahead under strict security, but Kirsh said, "There was just this lingering fear in the back of my mind. … For me, it was terrifying to think that, by choosing to go ahead with this event, we could be putting people's lives in danger … That's a pretty heavy burden to put on a 23-year-old."
On the third day of hearings of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion, further evidence emerged from Jewish Australians about antisemitism in schools, universities, workplaces, and online. A Jewish father, known only as AAT, said his 13-year-old son was bullied, called a "dirty Jew," a "stinky Jew," and subjected to Nazi salutes at his Australian school. "The physical bullying includes being squeezed until he couldn't breathe … being dragged across the floor … being thrown into the garbage bin, being dacked," AAT said. Some students were suspended, and AAT removed his son from the school. He felt the school offered "worse than zero support" while the bullies were supported, and the vice-principal implied the behaviour was "play fighting" rather than racism. His son now faces antisemitic slurs at his new school, including a boy putting black tape on his lip in imitation of Hitler's moustache.
Even as evidence was being given, a man wearing an antisemitic T-shirt - merging the Israeli flag with a swastika and bearing the slogan "antisemitism, proud to be accused" - was moved on by police outside the commission hearings in Sydney's CBD. He claimed he didn't know the royal commission was being held in the building behind him and denied being disrespectful. "What's disrespectful is what's happening in Gaza, in Lebanon and overseas, the killing of innocent people and children," he told reporters. The 68-year-old was later arrested.
The commission has heard that Jews in Australia are being unjustifiably held responsible for the actions of the state of Israel or the Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. The commission was established after December's Bondi massacre, in which two alleged Islamic State-inspired gunmen allegedly shot and killed 15 people and injured 40 others at a beachside Hanukah event. Hearings before commissioner Virginia Bell continue.