By Zac de Silva and Andrew Brown in Canberra

The prime minister is poised to announce a royal commission into the Bondi Beach massacre, bowing to weeks of political pressure from Jewish groups, the opposition and other public figures.

Cabinet met on Thursday to discuss the formal probe, which Anthony Albanese has opposed since the terror attack at Australia’s most famous beach on December 14.

It’s understood Mr Albanese will announce the royal commission on Thursday afternoon once the cabinet meeting has finished.

Fifteen people were killed and more than 40 injured when a father-and-son duo, allegedly inspired by Islamic State, opened fire on Jewish Australians celebrating Hanukkah.

Mr Albanese’s choice of royal commissioner wasn’t immediately apparent, but former High Court justice Virginia Bell, Federal Court judge Michael Lee and former chief justice James Allsop were all believed to be in the running.

One source suggested Ms Bell was the most likely candidate, but Jewish groups expressed concern about her taking the lead, because of her involvement in a 2017 judgement which shaped Australian protest laws in the following years.

In 2025, pro-Palestinian demonstrators used the 2017 judgment to help overturn laws banning protests outside places of worship in NSW, including synagogues.

NSW Jewish Board of Deputies president David Ossip said whoever runs the commission should have broad support.

“A consensus on who is chosen to be the royal commissioner should be a minimum requirement,” he told AAP in a statement.

“This royal commission, which will examine what led to the worst attack in our nation’s history and the crisis of anti-Semitism, must have the confidence of the Jewish community.”

Tonight the Prime Minister has floated the name of Virginia Bell to lead a Commonwealth Royal Commisson into antisemitism and the events leading up to the Bondi massacre.

Former Liberal treasurer Josh Frydenberg, previously the nation’s most senior Jewish minister, said Ms Bell was the wrong pick because she would not have community support.

“After more than two years of unprecedented hate, harassment and violence directed towards the Jewish community, culminating in Australia’s deadliest terrorist attack at Bondi Beach, it is unthinkable the prime minister would choose a commissioner that did not have the total confidence of the Jewish community,” he said in a post on the social media platform X.

But Ben Saul, a widely respected expert on international law and the United Nations’ special rapporteur on human rights, said Ms Bell was highly regarded, fair, and impartial.

“It is time to stop politicising any Bondi inquiry,” the professor said in a post on X.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley said she wouldn’t comment on individual names, but called for three commissioners to be appointed: one with a legal background, one expert in national security, and one from the Jewish community.

“This model is the one that we know will answer the call. The call for unity, the call for purpose,” she said.

A poll published by News Corp on Thursday showed 54 per cent of voters agree or strongly agree that the government should call a national royal commission.

The survey of 1608 voters conducted earlier this week also showed 19 per cent disagreed or strongly disagreed, with 27 per cent unsure.

Across party lines, the strongest support, as indicated by those who strongly agreed or agreed, was among One Nation voters (73 per cent), followed by Coalition voters (68) Greens voters (46), and Labor voters (42).

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