An inquiry has heard there has been a 300 per cent rise in antisemitic incidents across NSW since the October 7 attack in Israel.

The Jewish community say they have never felt more unsafe or at risk.

“Jewish institutions have been defaced, families have had to take down their mezuzah, Jewish school students have hidden their uniforms in public,” Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said.

Businesses, places of worship, homes and schools have been targeted.

“For the first time, the Jewish community of Australia and NSW has felt unsafe and at risk, not because of anything it has done, but because of who we are,” Ossip said.

The inquiry was told of previously unheard incidents of antisemitism.

“A Jewish student was walking near a school volleyball court when a group of older boys in green shirts shouted at him, ‘Are you Jewish? F—— Jew, you should kill yourself’,” Jewish Board of Deputies chief executive Michele Goldman said.

The inquiry heard allegations that at Rose Bay Secondary College a student created and shared an image of a Jewish peer with a caption “straight out of Auschwitz”.

The inquiry also heard about the high cost of safety for the Jewish community, especially at schools, and how some synagogues have made it mandatory for families to hire private security even for small events.

The inquiry was told there were 181 antisemitic incidents in 2023, rising to 510 last year.