Protests have been planned across Australia in anticipation of the Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to the country.
From Sunday, Herzog will make a five-day visit to Australia to meet with federal leaders and survivors of the Bondi terror attack — in which 15 people were killed and dozens more injured during a Hanukkah celebration.
Herzog's visit, on invitation from the federal government in the wake of the shooting, has been praised as a moment of "deep significance" by some groups, while others, including some Jewish Australians, have called on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to rescind the offer.
Albanese is among those backing the visit, along with the Zionist Federation of Australia, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ), the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (AIJAC) and others.
"The visit comes at a particularly important time for Australia's Jewish community following the tragic events at Bondi and the surge of antisemitism across the country, offering a powerful message of solidarity and support," AIJAC executive director Colin Rubenstein said in a statement.
He said Herzog's visit was "an essential part of the healing process" and was "very confident" that AIJAC represented "the overwhelming majority of Australian Jews in saying as much".
But others argue it would not be a unifying moment, as Israel faces accusations of genocide in Gaza — which it has repeatedly denied.
Pro-Palestinian rally organisers Palestinian Action Group (PAG) have called for nationwide protests opposing the visit, and say they will push ahead in Sydney despite NSW police extending a controversial curb on demonstrations, accusing authorities and the state government of attempting to "silence opposition".
Some Jewish Australians are also against the visit, including the progressive Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), which has been critical of Israel's actions in Gaza following Hamas' October 7 attack on Israel in 2023.
Who is Isaac Herzog?
Herzog entered the Knesset — Israel's parliament — in 2003 as a member of the Israeli Labor Party.
He led the party from 2013 to 2018 and headed the Zionist Union alliance in the 2015 election, which failed to defeat Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.
In 2021, the Knesset elected him president, a largely ceremonial but influential role. It's the head of state — a symbol of national unity with a focus on representing the core values of the state.
He follows his father, Chaim Herzog, who was president from 1983 to 1993.
In his role as head of state, Herzog has largely reflected the policies of Netanyahu's right-wing coalition.
He rejected the United Nations-backed Integrated Food Security Phase Classification Famine Review Committee's "irrefutable" declaration of starvation in Gaza, along with Netanyahu, who called it an "outright lie".
Herzog argued there was a "huge amount" of aid entering Gaza via trucks and airdrops. He blamed the UN for incorrectly distributing aid and Hamas for controlling the supply, and repeated the official Israeli line that there was a "man-made shortage" of aid getting into the strip.
A United Nations Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI), which does not speak on behalf of the UN as a whole and has been sharply criticised by Israel, concluded in September that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza.
The commission also said Herzog, Netanyahu and former defence minister Yoav Gallant had "incited the commission of genocide" in their speeches and statements.
Israel is separately defending a genocide case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which has ordered provisional measures but has yet to issue a final ruling.
Israel has repeatedly denied committing genocide in Gaza, saying it has the right to defend itself.
It "categorically" rejected the COI's findings as "distorted and false", while Netanyahu has described the ICJ case as "outrageous" and said Israel has an "unwavering commitment" to international law.
The COI cited comments made by Herzog at a press briefing after Hamas' 7 October 2023 attack on southern Israel, which triggered the Hamas-Israel war.
In the days after, Herzog said: "It's an entire nation out there that is responsible".
The commission said that while the remarks were not a literal call for genocide, they could reasonably be interpreted, in the context of Israel's military response, as incitement to target Palestinians in Gaza as a group.
Herzog has vehemently denied allegations that his remarks amount to incitement, saying they were taken out of context.
In December 2023, Herzog was also photographed writing the message "I rely on you" on an artillery shell intended for use in Gaza.
Herzog's visit draws mixed reaction
Herzog is set to arrive in Australia on Sunday.
Joined by World Zionist Organization chairman Yaakov Hagoel, the Israeli president will meet with senior Jewish leaders and bereaved families of the terror attack, as well as political leaders and media.
ZFA president Jeremy Leibler has said Herzog's visit will "bring comfort to those who are grieving and reassurance to a community living with fear". He said the federal government extending the invitation was important because it demonstrated Australia "stands with its Jewish citizens".
More recently, Albanese has said people should "recognise the solemn nature of the visit" and "bear in mind by the way that they respond over the coming weeks".
But the JCA has argued the invitation uses "Jewish grief as a political prop and diplomatic backdrop".
"Inviting a foreign head of state who is implicated in an ongoing genocide as a representative of the Jewish community is deeply offensive and risks entrenching the dangerous and antisemitic conflation between Jewish identity and the actions of the Israeli state," JCA executive officer Sarah Schwartz has said.
The JCA is also among several religious and legal groups who have written to the Australian Federal Police, Home Affairs Minister Tony Burke and Attorney-General Michelle Rowland asking for a criminal investigation to be launched into Herzog's rhetoric, which they allege amounts to incitement.
As nationwide rallies are planned to oppose Herzog's official trip, NSW Police commissioner Mal Lanyon cited community safety as his top priority as he extended protest restrictions in Sydney.
He was granted the power to curb moving protests for up to three months after the 14 December Bondi terror attack.
Organising the protests is the PAG, which has vowed to march from Sydney Town Hall to the state parliament despite the route lying inside the restriction zone.
Lanyon has dismissed suggestions he faced political pressure to extend the protest ban, saying the decision was his alone and the Israeli visit was a factor.
"Free speech comes with responsibility, this is a time for calm, this is a time for the community to come together," Lanyon said.
Although the declaration does not explicitly ban protests, it prevents organisers from gaining authorisation that shields them from arrest for obstructing traffic or pedestrians.
Protesters can also be issued a move-on direction, even if they participate in a static demonstration.
— With reporting by the Australian Associated Press.
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