AARON PATRICK: Josh Frydenberg gave the speech on Bondi that the prime minister should have

Josh Frydenberg almost never wears a yarmulke in public. The former Federal treasurer and deputy Liberal leader is not particularly religious. Before losing his seat in 2022 he rarely draw attention that he was a Jew.

On Wednesday at Bondi Beach, wearing a bright blue skull cup, Mr Frydenberg channelled the anger, fear and resentment felt by Australia’s Jewish community into a speech so compelling — so eloquently emotional — that the crowd who gathered to listen repeatedly burst into spontaneous applause.

The son of a stateless Holocaust refugee had a central message: the government permitted anti-Jewish hate to metastasize from an anti-Israeli celebration on the steps of the Sydney Opera House on October 8, 2023, into Sunday’s massacre at another Australian icon.

“Prime Minister, use your position, use your authority, use your pulpit to tell Australians where the red lines are and what will no longer be accepted here in Australia,” he said.

“He must call a royal commission. He must ban the preachers. He must ban the protests. He must prosecute the incitement. He must ban Hizb al-Tahrir and other right-wing or left-wing organisations that are spewing this hate.”

Incubators of hate

When Mr Frydenberg called for deportations of foreigners who defy hate speech laws — laws many Jews believe aren’t enforced — people in a crowd that had formed around him murmured in approval.

He then switched to an event that some Jews now see as a pivotal step towards the December 14 attack: the August march across the Sydney Harbour Bridge of some 90,000 people against Israel’s conduct of the war.

“If you want to support Palestinian statehood that’s fine,” Mr Frydenberg. “If you want to criticise the Israeli government on the prosecution of the war, that’s fine, but what we saw on that bridge was not that.

“We saw chants, death to the IDF. We saw members of Albanese’s own government standing below an image of the Ayatollah of Iran whose ambassador has been linked to terrorist attacks here in Australia.

“These were not peaceful marches. These were incubators of hate.”

In those three words, “incubators of hate”, Mr Frydenberg more clearly articulated the challenge of fighting anti-Semitism than any other Australian politician since the war began.

‘5000 words of water’

On Tuesday, Anthony Albanese and Governor-General Sam Mostyn met with victims’ relatives and other Jewish representatives at Admiralty House, Ms Mostyn’s Sydney residence. Mr Albanese repeated his regular condemnations of anti-Semitism and emphasised the importance of a multicultural society.

The father of a university student who attended the Admiralty House event approached me after Mr Frydenberg’s appearance in Bondi. He expressed a similar frustration to that heard many times from Jews since Sunday about what they perceive to be Mr Albanese’s weak response to Islamic extremism.

“He told me it was like 5000 words of water,” the Israeli-born father said about his son’s perception of the speech. “There was no substance.”

Mr Frydenberg’s hypothetical royal commission would go far beyond alleged attackers Sajid and Naveed Akram’s actions and motivations. It would likely examine the rise of anti-Jewish violence, including any connections between Muslim and anti-Israel agitators in Australia and foreign governments or terrorist groups.

NSW Premier Chris Minns said he was open to a royal commission, although did not discuss the potential scope.

Those listening to Mr Frydenberg at Bondi included Dan Rosen, the president of Warner Music in Australia. “That was one of the most important speeches in Australian history,” he said.

Hyperbole, for sure. Unless the speech had been given by the prime minister, which it wasn’t, or maybe Liberal leader Sussan Ley.

Ms Ley was also at the Bondi Pavilion on Wednesday, and spoke after her former colleague. She too called for deportations, which pleased the crowd.

But like the prime minister, she seemed to lack an element essential to lead a mourning nation: genuine emotion.