A Jewish woman testified to the Australian Royal Commission into Antisemitism, led by Virginia Bell, that she was asked to change her name at work.

She said that her manager raised concerns about the particular “sensitivities” of an external stakeholder regarding Israel, asking her to change her name so as not to ruin the company’s prospects of a commercial partnership.

He said that her “identifiably Jewish name could potentially add some complexity to the relationship and to that partnership, and it could, in turn, potentially have negative commercial outcomes,” she explained to the commission.

When she escalated that up the chain of command, the CEO concurred with her manager and requested that she change her name as well.

The Royal Commission, which is Australia’s highest investigative body, was tasked with investigating the rise in antisemitism that has rocked the Australian Jewish community, particularly following the massacre at Bondi Beach during a Chanukah celebration that claimed 15 lives and injured dozens more.

The commission has since learned that in the first year following the Oct. 7 attack on Israel, Jews in Australia endured 2,062 antisemitic incidents and that Jewish parents feared sending their children to school.