Thousands protest against Israeli President Herzog’s Australia visit

Palestine supporters have rallied across Australia to oppose a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who has been accused of inciting genocide against Palestinians.

Police in Sydney on Monday used pepper spray and scuffled with protesters who marched against the Israeli president, who is in the country to commemorate victims of last year’s Bondi Beach mass shooting.

Thousands of people demonstrated in a square in Sydney’s business district on Monday with more protests planned in cities and towns across the country in the evening.

Demonstrators risk arrest if they join a protest march late on Monday from Sydney Town Hall to the New South Wales Parliament, which falls in an area authorities have designated as a protected area during Herzog’s visit.

A Sydney court on Monday rejected a legal challenge against the restrictions on the demonstration filed by the Palestine Action Group, which organised the march.

“We’re hoping we won’t have to use any powers because we’ve been liaising very closely with the protest organisers,” Peter McKenna, New South Wales assistant police commissioner, told the broadcaster Nine News on Monday.

Herzog speaks at Bondi Beach

Herzog began his four-day visit to Australia at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, where he laid a wreath at a memorial for the victims of the December attack, which killed 15 people at a Hanukkah celebration. He also met survivors and the families of those killed.

“This was also an attack ‌on all Australians,” Herzog said. “They attacked the values that our democracies treasure – the sanctity of human life, the freedom of religion, tolerance, dignity and respect.”

“I’m here to express solidarity, friendship, and love,” he added in comments to reporters.

In addition to Sydney, where 3,000 police personnel were to be deployed, Herzog also plans to visit Melbourne and the national capital, Canberra, before he returns to Israel on Thursday.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese urged people to respect the solemn nature of Herzog’s visit, saying the Israeli president had “come here in goodwill”.

Herzog alleged the protests against his visit were attempts to “undermine and delegitimise” Israel’s right to exist.

But activists said the Israeli leader, whom a United Nations commission of inquiry has found to be responsible for inciting genocide against Palestinians, should not be immune to protests.

“President Herzog has unleashed immense suffering on Palestinians in Gaza for over two years – brazenly and with total impunity,” Amnesty International’s Australia chapter said. “Welcoming President Herzog as an official guest undermines Australia’s commitment to accountability and justice. We cannot remain silent.”

One protester, 30-year-old Jackson Elliott from Sydney, said: “The Bondi massacre was terrible, but from our Australian leadership, there’s been no ⁠acknowledgement of the Palestinian people and the Gazans.”

“Herzog has dodged all the questions about the occupation and says this visit is about Australia and Israeli relations, but he is complicit,” Elliott said.

The Jewish Council of Australia, a vocal critic of the Israeli government, released an open letter on Monday signed by more than 1,000 Jewish Australian ‌academics and community leaders, urging Albanese to rescind Herzog’s invitation.

In September, the UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory found that Herzog “incited the commission of genocide” by saying all Palestinians – “an entire nation” – were responsible for the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel.

Since those attacks, Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza has killed more than 72,000 Palestinians, and tens of thousands of bodies are believed to be trapped under the rubble and uncounted.

Since a United States-brokered “ceasefire” agreed in October, Israel has killed more than 500 Palestinians and continues to impose restrictions on the entry of aid into Gaza.