Steven Lowy tells hate inquiry he ‘felt more unsafe’ in Australia than Israel

One of Australia’s best known Jewish businessmen Steven Lowy has revealed he receives an average of 40 threats per day because of his faith. Mr Lowy, known as former co-CEO of Westfield corporation told a Royal Commission into anti-Semitism, the community had grappled with safety concerns and hatred for years. He was speaking at the commission set up in the wake of the Bondi terror attack which killed 15 innocent people who were celebrating Chanukah. Mr Lowy, whose father Frank survived the Holocaust, recounted a life constantly shadowed by “hovering” anti-Semitic threats and abuse. The businessman said he had witnessed “an ever increasing amount” of anti-Semitism since being in the same building as the Israeli consulate bombing in Sydney in 1982, but that it had truly taken a turn for the worse after the October 7 attacks. Just a week after Hamas’ terror attack in which 1200 people were killed, Mr Lowy travelled to Israel with senior colleagues as a part of a humanitarian organisation supporting the Jewish diaspora. Upon returning home, the businessman said he actually “felt more unsafe” in Australia. “The mental and physical anguish was just horrific,” he told the commission. “Obviously when there is intense bombing taking place, you take precautions but … when I came back to Sydney, I felt I’d come back to a different country.” Facing a neverending wave of hostility directed at his family – including a viral trend labelling his wife ‘Genocide Judy’ – Mr Lowy estimated he had received “more than 15,000 very unpleasant attacks online” in the past year. While he avoids social media, the businessman retained a personal security team which alerted him of issues such as death threats, posters calling for the execution of his father and an account offering payments for violence against Jewish people. The Royal Commission on anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion resumed on Monday for its third block of hearings after receiving more than 20,000 submissions. The inquiry has previously looked at defining anti-Semitism, hearing about lived experiences and security leading up to the terror attack. Over this next fortnight, the focus will change to the extent of anti-Semitism across social media and within traditional Australian media. In other testimony heard on Monday, Bondi survivor Arsen Ostrovsky spoke about deepfake images used to undermine the reality of the Bondi terror attack, as well as the founder of the famously doxxed Whatsapp group for Jewish creatives. Meanwhile, counsel assisting the inquiry Richard Lancaster SC said while several platforms, including X, refused to engage with the inquiry, Gab Social was outwardly “hostile” when approached for evidence. Deepfake smear campaign The commission heard evidence from prominent online figure in the Australian Jewish community Arsen Ostrovsky, who attended the Bondi Chanukah event in December last year with his young daughters. Mr Ostrovsky was targeted by a smear campaign after real images of his bloodied head surfaced hours following the devastating terrorist attack that killed 15 people. The images were then used to create anti-Semitic deepfake material of Mr Ostrovsky, falsely claiming the injured man was an actor. Some of the deepfake images showed Mr Ostrovsky with a smiling expression, having his face painted red on what appeared to be a film set – the images were faked in an apparent attempt to discredit the original images of Mr Ostrovsky’s injury. Mr Ostrovsky said he found out about the content as he headed into surgery and had since been subjected to unrelenting online abuse. “After December, it became impossible for me to keep up – it essentially became a relentless tsunami of Jew hatred online,” he told the commission. “I try my best to block it out, I do, but it is impossible. “When you’re trying to heal, when your family, when your children, you see this, the abuse is relentless, it is vicious.” Separately, social media platforms including X have refused to engage with the hate inquiry, it was told. Mr Lancaster SC said social media organisations Google, Meta, LinkedIn and TikTok had been forthcoming with the commission; however, several platforms refused to engage with the inquiry. He told the commission that US social networking and blogging app Gab Social, which described itself as “the home of free speech and the parallel economy”, was outwardly “hostile” when approached. Mr Lancaster said a person who claimed to be a lawyer for the platform wrote to the commission claiming, “Gab is an American company, run by American citizen and will publish whatever it likes, whenever it likes”. A post by Gab chief executive Andrew Torba on X read: “I do not answer to Australian bureaucrats, and Gab does not answer to state sponsored censors”. Mr Lancaster said the commission received no response from X Corp or Telegram and only a limited and generic response from popular platforms Reddit and Twitch. “It has become increasingly apparent that the online environment and social media platforms in particular, are perhaps the most significant vector for the spread of anti-Semitism and hate in the community,” Mr Lancaster said. Doxxed WhatsApp group not a ‘sinister cabal’ The founder of a WhatsApp group for Jewish creatives said the publication of members’ information and messages in the wake of October 7 was “really horrendous”. Israeli-Australian writer Dr Lee Kofman, a left wing Zionist who supports the rights of Palestinians, said she had “never encountered … any explicit or overt anti-Semitism” directed toward herself before the October 7 attacks, life had “completely changed” since. Facing increasing alienation in the arts industry, Dr Kofman said she had a choice to either “sink into depression or actually do something”. In 2023, she wrote an open letter titled ‘Jews for Humanity’ which garnered 1500 signatories and created a WhatsApp group for Australian Jewish creators. A transcript of the group chat was famously leaked in February 2024, leading to violent threats and a fast-tracking to criminalise doxxing on a federal level. She said the WhatsApp group was “portrayed as the sinister cabal” and that the impacts were widespread. “It was really, really horrendous for us.” Dr Kofman said, like many other members, the leak had affected her career opportunities, causing her to lose around 75 per cent of her freelance work. The doxxing reportedly resulted in many experiencing mental health deterioration and reputational impacts. Discord ‘playground’ for youth anti-Semitism A Jewish father, referred to as Witness ACF, recounted the “horrifying” ordeal of reading through anti-Semitic messages his son received on Discord in 2024. The online bullying involved Nazi slogans, polls as to whether the witness’ son should kill himself and messages calling for Israel to be “nuked”. “I hope Hamas bombs your fat asses,” one message read. The witness said the comments had a “significant impact” on his child, who originally considered the perpetrators as his friends. “I had to have a conversation with my son around ‘what is anti-Semitism?’ and to just explain to him that he has done nothing wrong by being Israeli and Jewish,” he told the commission. “It’s horrifying, it’s not something you would want your child to go through.” The concerned father said he “really welcome(d)” the social media ban and that platforms were “just the playground” for increasing anti-Semitism in Australia. The inquiry continues on Tuesday.