MEDIA RELEASE
16 June 2026
The Jewish Council of Australia’s submission to the Royal Commission into Antisemitism and Social Cohesion, representing the voices of over 2,500 progressive Jewish people in Australia, has been published today. The submission urges the Commission to reject definitions and approaches to addressing antisemitism that conflate it with criticism of Israel, warning they suppress lawful political speech, divide communities, and make the fight against genuine antisemitism harder.
The submission includes dozens of lived experience testimonies from the Jewish Council’s members who describe the harms they have experienced from pro-Israel advocates who seek to conflate Jewish identity with support for Israel, and from antisemitism policy which penalises those who support Palestinian freedom and justice.
In its submission, the Jewish Council outlines two important contemporary drivers of antisemitism in Australia: the growth of far-right, neo-Nazi and conspiracist movements; and the aggressive actions of the State of Israel and conflation of Jewish identity with Israel — a conflation that the State of Israel and its supporters have long cultivated.
The Jewish Council calls on the Commission to recommend that governments and institutions reject the IHRA working definition of antisemitism, and focus on the growth of far-right, neo-Nazi and conspiracist movements as a primary, and too often overlooked driver of antisemitism in Australia.
The submission documents how laws and policies introduced in the name of Jewish safety including Queensland’s criminalisation of pro-Palestinian political slogans, have led to Jewish Australians themselves being arrested, including 73-year-old clinical psychologist and child of Holocaust survivors Stephen Heydt.
Among the submission’s recommendations, the Jewish Council calls on the Commission to:
- Recognise the political and religious diversity of the Australian Jewish community, including on Israel and Zionism;
- Find that far-right extremism is a primary driver of antisemitism in Australia;
- Recommend the rejection of the IHRA working definition and the Universities Australia definitions of antisemitism;
- Endorse and fund the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Anti-Racism Framework; and
- Recommend against measures that criminalise Palestinian or pro-Palestinian political expression.
The following quotes are attributable to Sarah Schwartz, Executive Director, Jewish Council of Australia:
“Antisemitism is real, it is rising, and it demands a serious response. But the evidence is clear: the dominant policy response adopted in Australia of punitive laws, the curtailment of civil liberties, and definitions that treat criticism of Israel as antisemitic don’t make Jews safer, they actually make things worse.
“A core feature of antisemitism is stereotyping Jews as being a political monolith. The media and government must ensure that they listen to diverse Jewish voices and avoid treating legacy pro-Israel organisations, or Israeli leaders, as being the sole representatives of Jewish opinion.
“The Commission should focus on the genuine drivers of hate: the far-right, neo-Nazi and conspiracist movements that threaten Jews, Muslims, and all racialised communities.
“We cannot continue to wrongly assign blame for this problem to lawful pro-Palestine advocacy. Our safety is inseparable from the safety and dignity of all Australians.”
The following quotes are attributable to Bart Shteinman, Executive Officer, Jewish Council of Australia:
“There is a significant, and growing number of Jewish Australians who reject their Judaism being associated with the State of Israel.
“At a time when the State of Israel is committing atrocities in Gaza, Lebanon, the West Bank and beyond, many Jewish Australians are demanding the Royal Commission recognise their Jewish identity as distinct from Israel.
“That’s why our submission today urges the Royal Commission to reject the IHRA definition of antisemitism and to focus instead on real solutions including fighting far-right extremism and funding and endorsing the Australian Human Rights Commission’s National Anti-Racism Framework.”
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