Updated ,first published
Israeli President Isaac Herzog has accused pro-Palestinian protesters of seeking to undermine Israel’s existence as he used his arrival in Australia to express frustration that more was not done to tackle antisemitism in the lead-up to the worst terror attack in Australian history.
Herzog visited Bondi Beach after arriving in Sydney on Monday morning for his first stop on a contentious four-day visit that has already attracted large protests in capital cities across the country and prompted police to launch a massive security operation.
The Israeli head of state said he had warned before the Bondi terror attack that the rise of antisemitism around the world, including in Australia, following the October 7 attacks and subsequent war in Gaza could become deadly as he called for tougher action to tackle anti-Jewish prejudice.
Pro-Palestinian protesters – including some calling for Herzog’s arrest and many chanting “free Palestine” – gathered in central Sydney and Melbourne for large planned protests on Monday evening, as Herzog prepared to address members of Sydney’s Jewish community at an event on Monday night.
The Palestine Action Group lost its bid to overturn the NSW government’s designation of Herzog’s as a “major event”, which grants police extra powers, on Monday afternoon.
Justice Robertson Wright dismissed the protest group’s case, saying his conclusions had not been reached easily or lightly.
Speaking at Sydney’s Town Hall, former Australian of the Year Grace Tame labelled Herzog a “war criminal”.
Using a phrase set to be banned in Queensland under new laws, she said: “From Gadigal to Gaza, globalise the intifada”.
Herzog laid a wreath and stones transported from Jerusalem at the Bondi Pavilion and met survivors of the attack and relatives of those who died. He was standing just metres from the spot where two gunmen shot 15 people dead at a Hanukkah celebration on December 14.
“One thing has become clear: hatred that starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews,” Herzog said, surrounded by heavy security including police helicopters circling the sky and sniper guards on alert in nearby buildings.
“This is why the current rise in antisemitism around the world is a global emergency, and we must all act to fight against it.”
Asked whether he had a message for the protesters outraged by the deaths of more than 70,000 people in Gaza and who planned to participate in demonstrations during his visit, he said: “These demonstrations, in most cases, what you hear and see comes to undermine and de-legitimise our right, my nation’s right [to] its mere existence.”
Herzog, whose position is largely ceremonial, said Israel “did not seek that war on October 7. Our nation was attacked terribly, and people were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted.”
Several survivors of the Bondi attack and relatives of the victims have accused the Albanese government of failing to do enough to respond to their warnings of surging antisemitism in the lead-up to the December 14 massacre.
“These frustrations were shared by many, many of us, including myself,” Herzog said.
“I’ve seen this great surge all over the world, and I’ve seen it in many countries, including Canada, Great Britain, the United States and Australia, all English-speaking countries, and I’ve alerted way in advance, as well as many others.
“And that is why I understand this frustration clearly, and I hope the steps that were recently taken will bring change.”
Deputy Prime Minister Richard Marles told parliament that Herzog was an “honoured and welcome guest” in Australia, saying that “his presence in Australia today is very significant for our nation, and particularly for our nation’s Jewish community”.
Responding to a question from independent MP Sophie Scamps about whether Australia would sanction Israeli politicians over moves to expand settlements in the occupied West Bank, Marles said Herzog’s visit was “utterly consistent with the position that this government holds in supporting a two-state solution”.
Echoing comments he made in an interview with this masthead before leaving Israel, Herzog said: “It is important for me to say that I’ve come here in goodwill … I’m here to express solidarity, friendship and love, and I also believe that this is an opportunity to upgrade our relations with Israel and Australia because we are two democracies that share values together, and we are confronting the roots of evil from all over the world, and we should do so together.”
Paying tribute to the first responders who rushed to help the injured, he said: “Suddenly, here, on Bondi, surfboards became trenches and stretchers as extraordinary ordinary people ran into the danger and saved innocent lives.”
Yvonne, a survivor of the Bondi attack who attended Monday’s event, said she believed Herzog’s visit was an important show of solidarity with the Jewish community in Australia.
“It shows us that we aren’t alone,” said the Sydney mother, who asked that her surname not be used. She was waiting to buy a doughnut with her young son and talking to a friend when the sound of bullets rang out at Bondi on December 14. She dislocated her hip while running from the gunmen and is still walking with crutches.
NSW Premier Chris Minns attended the event, alongside the leaders of some of the country’s largest Jewish organisations including Zionist Federation of Australia co-chief executive Jeremy Leibler and Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin.
Ryvchin said he hoped Herzog’s visit would “lift the spirits of a pained community, and we hope it will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies”.
“When we were targeted for being Jewish, to have the solidarity of the Jewish world, as represented here by the president of the Jewish state, it means a great deal,” he said.
Police moved on one protester, who yelled “shame” as Herzog departed from Bondi Pavilion.
The 25-year-old Bondi local said he didn’t plan on protesting, but was overcome with emotion.
“It was not hateful, it was an empathetic human reaction to seeing an agitator in my suburb,” he said.
Josh Lees of Palestine Action Group Sydney responded to Herzog’s arrival by saying: “The streets of Sydney belong to the people, not to Chris Minns or the Israeli president. We will not be silenced or intimidated. Huge numbers will protest in Sydney to show that we stand against genocide.”
The progressive Jewish Council of Australia, which opposed Israel’s conduct in the war in Gaza, published an open letter in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age on Monday signed by more than 1000 Jewish Australians opposing Herzog’s visit.
“Welcoming an alleged war criminal in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre betrays Jewish communities, multicultural Australia and everyone who stands for Palestinian human rights and international law,” the letter said.
A United Nations-sponsored inquiry last year accused Israel of genocide in Gaza and found Herzog had “incited the commission of genocide” by saying “an entire nation” of Palestinians bore responsibility for the October 7 attacks in a 2023 press conference.
Herzog has dismissed this accusation as “another lie and another distortion of the facts”, saying it ignored remarks from the same press conference in which he said he supported international law and opposed the killing of innocent people.
Herzog will also visit Canberra and Melbourne during his visit, which will include meetings with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Opposition Leader Sussan Ley.
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Matthew Knott is the foreign affairs and national security correspondent for The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age.Connect via X, Facebook or email.
Amber Schultz is a crime and justice reporter with The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X or email.