Israeli president Australia visit follows the Bondi Beach attack, as Isaac Herzog honours victims amid protests and political controversy

Israeli President Isaac Herzog arrived in Australia on Monday for a four-day visit aimed at honouring victims of the Bondi Beach mass shooting, the deadliest antisemitic attack in the country since Hamas’s assault on October 7, 2023.

Also read: FIFA President Infantino Defends Awarding Donald Trump Inaugural Peace Prize

President Isaac Herzog said the visit was intended to express solidarity with Australia’s Jewish community and offer strength following the December 14 attack, in which gunmen opened fire on a Jewish Hanukkah celebration at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, killing 15 people.

The visit has been welcomed by many Jewish Australians, who described it as a moment of recognition for a community still reeling from trauma.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said the president’s presence would lift the spirits of a community in pain.

However, the visit has also triggered controversy, with pro-Palestinian activists calling for nationwide protests, including planned demonstrations in central Sydney.

Police have refused to authorise several protests under expanded public order powers introduced after the Bondi Beach attack.

Amnesty International Australia has urged supporters to rally against what it described as genocide against Palestinians and called for President Herzog to be investigated for alleged war crimes.

Chris Sidoti, a prominent Australian human rights lawyer and member of a United Nations inquiry into rights abuses in Israel and the Palestinian territories, publicly called this week for Herzog’s arrest.

A UN Independent International Commission of Inquiry concluded in 2025 that President Herzog had incited genocide through remarks suggesting all Palestinians bore responsibility for the Hamas attack.

Israel has categorically rejected the findings, describing the report as distorted and false, and has called for the inquiry’s dissolution.

Australian Federal Police have ruled out any arrest, with senior officials telling lawmakers that President Herzog enjoys full diplomatic immunity covering both civil and criminal matters.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese appealed for calm ahead of the visit, urging Australians to focus on the purpose of Herzog’s presence.

President Herzog, Mr Albanese said, was visiting primarily to engage with Jewish Australians grieving the loss of innocent lives and to promote national unity.

The prime minister’s government has faced criticism from some quarters for acting too slowly to address rising antisemitic incidents since 2023.

The Bondi Beach attack was carried out by Sajid Akram, a 50-year-old Indian national who entered Australia on a visa in 1998 and was shot dead by police at the scene.

His 24-year-old son, Naveed, an Australian-born citizen, remains in custody and has been charged with terrorism and 15 counts of murder.

Among those killed were an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, a couple who confronted one of the attackers, and a 10-year-old girl, Matilda, remembered at her funeral as a ray of sunshine.

Despite broad community support, opposition has also emerged within Australia’s Jewish population.

The progressive Jewish Council of Australia published an open letter stating that President Herzog was not welcome.

Also read: President Tinubu Condoles Wilfred Ndidi on Father’s Death

The group said it refused to allow grief over the Bondi massacre to legitimise a leader it accused of playing a role in the ongoing destruction of Gaza.