Australia's top intelligence official has delivered a sobering mea culpa to a public inquiry, admitting that antisemitism was effectively allowed to run unchecked in the country in the wake of the Gaza war - and that the consequences were catastrophic.
Mike Burgess, director-general of the Australian Security Intelligence Organisation (ASIO), told the inquiry on Monday that antisemitic behaviour in Australia escalated significantly after the Gaza conflict began, progressing in severity from what he described as "intimidating behaviour to direct targeting of people," according to reporting by France24.
The inquiry centres on the Bondi Beach mass shooting of December 2025, one of the deadliest attacks in modern Australian history, in which 15 people were killed while attending a Jewish Hanukkah celebration. The attack sent shockwaves through Australia's Jewish community and prompted immediate questions about whether security agencies had connected enough dots in time.
A failure of vigilance
Burgess's testimony is notable for its directness. Intelligence chiefs are not typically known for volunteering uncomfortable admissions about institutional shortcomings, so his characterisation of antisemitism being "left unchecked" is being closely scrutinised by observers and advocacy groups alike.
The ASIO chief's account paints a grim picture of a threat that escalated in plain sight - harassment and intimidation graduating into something far more lethal, while the broader societal and institutional response failed to keep pace with the danger.
Why this matters beyond Australia
Australia is not alone in grappling with a post-October 7 surge in antisemitic incidents. Countries across Europe and North America have documented similar spikes in harassment, vandalism, and threats directed at Jewish communities since the Gaza war began. What makes the Australian case particularly stark is that the trajectory from harassment to mass violence is now being examined in a formal public inquiry, with a senior intelligence official on the record acknowledging the failure.
Jewish community groups in Australia had raised alarms about rising antisemitism well before the Bondi attack, warnings that will now inevitably be re-examined as part of the inquiry's mandate.
The hearings are expected to continue, with scrutiny likely to fall on how intelligence was gathered, assessed, and shared - and crucially, whether earlier intervention could have prevented the December attack.
Source: France24
