Bondi royal commission live updates: Jewish Australians share harrowing lived experiences of anti-Semitism

“Pandering to movements that want to kill every Jew everywhere has to stop,” he says.

“Let no one deny what ‘globalise the intifada means’: It means Jewish blood on the sands of Bondi.

“How can we reclaim the decent Australia we thought was unbreakable.

“This event can’t be blamed on lax gun control.

“The most difficult issue is the hateful and murderous attitude towards Jews in recent times (that has) infected our society.”

He calls on leaders everywhere to step up.

Rabbi Benjamin says congregants catching a taxi or rideshare car to synagogue never tell the driver where they’re actually going.

He says they always ask to be transported to a cafe nearby so that they can walk from there and the driver down’t know where they are actually headed.

Rabbi Benjamin is decribing several incidents of verbal and physical assaults on members of his congregation in recent years.

He also says some of the staff working at the synagogue and receiving abusive phone calls.

One caller in particular, who rang in March this year, threatened staff by saying “we’re coming to get you”.

Ryvchin says those staff were urged by loved ones to reconsider their employment at the synagogue.

Rabbi Benjamin says since October 7, the synagogue and its congregants have been subjected to regular incidents of anti-Semitism.

He is discussing a protest at Hyde Park that marched past the synagogue in 2024 with a banner saying “Sanction Israel”.

He says the issue is that people are holding Jews in Australia accountable for the decisions of the Israeli government.

That is the “gateway” for anti-Zionism to become anti-Semitism, he says.

He also says the synagogue was plastered with “Free Palestine” stickers.

He says the Great Synagogue has no influence on Israeli government policy or that part of the world at all.

Rabbi Benjamin Elton is the chief minister of the Great Synagogue in Sydney.

Mr Ryvchin says he still believes you have to have education to drive out misinformation.

“I also believe in consequences,” he says.

“There have to be consequences - social, political, judicial.

“But I’m concerned for the state of our country and for our children. The circumstances we find ourselves in are tragic.”

Mr Ryvchin says the lack of response to the protests on October 8 and 9 gave people permission to act on their anti-Semitic views.

“When you have behaviour that attracts no consequence, it becomes normalised,” he says.

“This was not done in secret, it was done with pride, openly.”

He says the misinformation around Jewish people and accusations they are child killers “of course” led to Jewish people being harmed.

Mr Ryvchin says he was particularly close to Rabbi Eli Schlanger, saying he has been a part of the Bondi Jewish community all his life.

Rabbi Schlanger died in the Bondi attack.

“They were tremendous human beings. They were patriots who adored this country.

“He (Rabbi Schlanger) was one of the dearest people in my life. I realise now that I took him for granted when he was here. He would always pick up the phone when you needed him.

“I don’t want to monopolise the loss because there were hundreds of people in the Jewish community who would call him a good friend like I did.

“He was the beating heart fo our little community.”

“I realised at that moment (after the arson attack) that we were on a path to catastrophe,” he says.

He addressed the media that day, saying “sooner or later someone is going to be dead”.

Less than 12 months later, Bondi happened.

He’s now talking about an arson attack that happened on October 17.

“Just before 6am my wife shook me awake and showed me her phone and there was a video there of cars daubed with graffiti,” he said.

“I could see smouldering embers.

“It didn’t strike me where it was even though it was outside my family home.”