Israeli head flies in to rally rage, community embrace
Defiant protesters have vowed to go ahead with their planned Sydney rally against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s controversial visit on Monday.
Source: AAP
Defiant protesters have vowed to go ahead with their planned Sydney rally against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s controversial visit on Monday.
Organisers launched an 11th-hour legal challenge against special powers given to police to manage Herzog’s stay.
The head of state begins his official visit in Sydney on Monday after an invitation from the Albanese government following the Bondi terrorist attack.
About 3500 police will be deployed across Sydney city over the three days.
An exclusion zone has been enforced, encompassing the CBD, Pyrmont and eastern suburbs, where police have special powers to move people on.
The Palestine Action Group has organised a gathering at Sydney Town Hall on Monday night, with 5000 expected to attend.
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Herzog will meet politicians and Jewish community leaders, some of whom say his visit will bring great comfort. But other groups oppose his visit, have called for federal police to investigate him for alleged war crimes.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is subject to an International Criminal Court arrest warrant. Herzog is not and is granted customary immunity under international law as a visiting head of state.
The president’s role is largely ceremonial, but he has sparked outrage for being photographed signing an Israeli artillery shell.
Herzog later said 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 clarified his remarks, which he said were taken out of context.
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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.
“President Herzog is a patriot and a person of dignity and compassion and holds an office that is above party politics.”
But 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 protest organiser, the Palestine Action Group, has flagged an urgent NSW Supreme Court challenge on Monday after Premier Chris Minns formally declared the visit a major event.
The declaration granted police extra powers to block movements in the city centre.
“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 imposed following the Bondi attack.
–AAP
