‘Terrifying’: political candidate violently abused and schoolboy thrown into bin, antisemitism royal commission hears

The third day of hearings of the royal commission on antisemitism and social cohesion heard further evidence from Jewish Australians

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Violent antisemitic abuse was allowed to proliferate across a Jewish political candidate’s social media as part of a broader trend designed to intimidate Jewish Australians from public life, a royal commission has heard.

Joshua Kirsh launched a campaign as an independent candidate for the New South Wales upper house in late 2025 but found his advertisements online bombarded by antisemitic tropes, abuse and threats.