However, Julie Nathan says anti-Israel material that draws analogies with Nazis or Jewish stereotypes could be classified by her as such.
Ms Nathan is research director at the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, which compiles a record of apparent anti-Semitic incidents against international standards.
The Royal Commission on Anti-Semitism and Social Cohesion opened a second week of public hearings on Monday by digging into different types, and definitions, of anti-Semitism.
Ms Nathan told the inquiry pro-Palestine protests were not in themselves anti-Semitic. But there are sometimes elements within them, including parts of some speeches, chants and placards that are, she said.
Pro-Palestine material is also not in itself anti-Semitic, she said, but can be if it is being used to target Jews - for example, a "free Palestine" sticker on a synagogue or Jewish school.
''Israel is a state like any other state ... and everyone should have the right to criticise any government or any country in the world," she said.
One post considered anti-Semitic by the ECAJ, due to its comparison of Israel with Nazi Germany, stated: ''I wholeheartedly support the Palestinian cause. Israel is no better than the Nazis of World War II."
Another post ECAJ considered anti-Semitic for referencing a stereotype about Jews controlling the world said: ''Australia is seeing firsthand the influence of the Jewish Lobby on our politicians and the media. Our vote together is stronger than Zionist money.''
In 2024, the ECAJ's anti-Semitism report recorded 2062 incidents, up from 495 the year before - followed by a decrease to 1654 incidents in 2025.
Only some online incidents are recorded by the ECAJ in its report due to the scale and number of incidents, however some more serious or inciting online posts are included.
Also on Monday, founder and chief executive of the Dor Foundation, Tahli Blicblau, told the inquiry anti-Semitic discourse increases following high-profile attacks on Jews, both globally and in Australia.
''In the days following the attack at Bondi, anti-Semitic discourse increased horrifically," she said.
Ms Blicblau said anti-Semitism was sometimes ''shrouded just enough in language, often of human rights, to be acceptable to to polite society''.
She gave the example of an image of a globe with an octopus, stylised to represent either Israel or the Israeli government.
The image was ''passed off as political activism'', when the concept of Jews or Zionists controlling the world through their tentacles should be regarded as anti-Semitic, she said.
