Israeli head lands in Australia for contentious visit sparking Adelaide protest
Israel’s president has touched down in Australia, on a controversial visit to be met with nationwide protests and demands for his arrest. A protest will be held on the steps of parliament house in Adelaide on Monday night.
Israeli president Isaac Herzog landed in Sydney early on Monday, after an invitation from the Albanese government following the antisemitic terrorist attack at Bondi Beach on December 14.
The Islamic State-inspired father-and-son gunmen killed 15 people and wounded more than 40 others.
Accompanied by his wife, Michal, Herzog was met at Sydney Airport by Israel’s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon. His controversial visit is being met with nationwide protests and demands for his arrest.
While in Australia, Herzog will meet politicians – including Prime Minister Anthony Albanese – and Jewish community leaders, some of whom say the figurehead’s visit will bring great comfort.
But other groups oppose him setting foot on Australian soil, calling for federal police to investigate him for alleged war crimes.
Rallies against Herzog’s visit are scheduled across the country, and an early morning legal challenge to NSW Premier Chris Minns’ protest restrictions was being heard in Sydney’s Supreme Court. Ads condemning the visit also appeared in newspapers on Monday.
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Pro-Palestinian activists are calling for a federal police investigation into Israeli president Isaac Herzog for “incitement to genocide”, with hundreds expected to take part in an Adelaide protest against his planned visit to Australia.
Protestors will meet at the steps of Parliament House on Monday evening and are calling for Australia to cut ties with Israel.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. But Herzog is not, and is granted customary immunity under international law as a visiting head of state.
The Israeli president’s role is largely ceremonial, but Herzog has sparked outrage for being photographed signing an Israeli artillery shell. He said later the munition was a smokescreen rather than an explosive device, but described the signing as an error.
A United Nations inquiry found his comments after the Hamas terror attack on Israel on October 7, 2023 – in which he described Palestinians as an “entire nation out there that is responsible” – to reasonably be interpreted as incitement for genocide.
Israel has repeatedly denied allegations of genocide and Herzog subsequently said his comments were taken out of context.
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The war in Gaza began after Hamas-led militants killed 1200 people and took about 250 hostages in an attack on southern Israel on October 7, 2023, according to Israeli tallies.
Israel’s retaliatory offensive has killed about 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gazan health officials, while also leaving much of Gaza in ruins.
The Jewish Council of Australia launched a major advertising campaign on Monday, printing a public letter condemning the visit that was signed by more than 1000 Jewish Australians.
“We refuse to let our collective grief be used to legitimise a leader whose rhetoric has been part of inciting a genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and has contributed to the illegal annexation of the West Bank,” executive officer Sarah Schwartz said on Monday.
But Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin said Herzog’s visit would “lift the spirits of a pained community”.
“We hope it will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies,” he said.
Judith Treanor, from Jews against the Occupation ’48, said the visit told the world that “genocide is compatible with Jewish identity”.
“There are Jews who support Israel and Jews who don’t … Herzog must be investigated, [he’s] not welcomed here,” she said.
The Palestine Action Group has flagged an urgent NSW Supreme Court challenge on Monday after Minns formally declared the visit a major event. The declaration granted police extra powers to block movements in Sydney’s city.
“Instead of defending human rights, the NSW government is using emergency-style powers to shield a visiting head of state from public scrutiny and accountability,” spokesman Josh Lees said.
A last-minute court hearing arguing the powers are excessive, unjustified and unlawful is scheduled before Justice Robertson Wright on Monday morning – hours before the rally is due to begin.
Police have warned protesters they will be arrested if they breach public assembly restrictions put in place following the Bondi attack.
-with AAP
