{"id":272594,"date":"2026-02-03T23:10:11","date_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:10:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/272594\/"},"modified":"2026-02-03T23:10:11","modified_gmt":"2026-02-03T23:10:11","slug":"who-is-israels-president-isaac-herzog-and-why-is-his-visit-to-australia-expected-to-prompt-mass-protests-australian-foreign-policy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/272594\/","title":{"rendered":"Who is Israel\u2019s president Isaac Herzog and why is his visit to Australia expected to prompt mass protests? | Australian foreign policy"},"content":{"rendered":"

When the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, lands in Australia next week<\/a>, it will be to a warm welcome from the government and the promise of mass protests from demonstrators opposed to his country\u2019s war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Major Jewish organisations and federal and state governments have welcomed Herzog\u2019s visit as \u201ca moment of profound significance\u201d, but other groups, including some Jewish Australian organisations, say the president should be barred from entering the country, alleging he has incited genocide against Palestinians.<\/p>\n

Herzog was invited to Australia by the federal government after the antisemitic massacre in Bondi in December, when 15 people were killed by two allegedly Islamic State-inspired gunmen.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to build social cohesion in this country,\u201d Anthony Albanese<\/a> has said, arguing the Israeli president\u2019s visit is intended to foster \u201ca greater sense of unity\u201d.<\/p>\n

Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/a><\/p>\n

The Australia\/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council (Aijac) says it believes it speaks for the majority of Jewish Australians when it welcomes Herzog\u2019s arrival as \u201ca powerful message of solidarity and support \u2026 following the tragic events at Bondi and the surge of antisemitism across the country\u201d.<\/p>\n

But others argue his arrival portends the opposite: that inviting Isaac Herzog will only sow discord.<\/p>\n

Palestinian groups have called for mass protests against Herzog\u2019s visit, and thousands have vowed to march in Sydney in defiance of restrictions imposed by the NSW police commissioner.<\/p>\n

Several groups have filed complaints to the Australian federal police, saying Herzog must be investigated for inciting genocide in Gaza, an allegation he vehemently denies.<\/p>\n

The liberal Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) has described Herzog\u2019s invitation as an \u201coutrage\u201d, saying his presence will \u201cfuel the flames of division\u201d.<\/p>\n

Who is Isaac Herzog?<\/p>\n

For all of Israel\u2019s modern history, the name Herzog has been prominent.<\/p>\n

The current president is the son of Chaim Herzog, who was president from 1983 to 1993; Chaim Herzog\u2019s father, Rabbi Yitzhak Halevi Herzog, was chief rabbi of Palestine, and then Israel, from 1936 until 1959.<\/p>\n

A lawyer by training, Isaac Herzog was the leader of Israel\u2019s Labour party and led the Zionist Union coalition that failed to oust Benjamin Netanyahu\u2019s Likud in the 2015 general election. He was chair of the Jewish Agency for Israel before being elected by the Knesset to the largely ceremonial, but influential, position of president in 2021<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Herzog has shifted politically. Once seen as a centrist<\/a>, Herzog has tended to fall into lockstep with the Gaza policies of Netanyahu\u2019s rightwing coalition since becoming head of state. Formerly an advocate for a two-state solution, he has suggested his view has changed since the 7 October attack. In Davos last year he said it was \u201cnot realistic at all\u201d for Israel to withdraw from settlements in the illegally occupied West Bank.<\/p>\n

In late 2023, Herzog was pictured signing an Israeli artillery shell<\/a> being prepared to be dropped on Gaza, writing in Hebrew on the munition: \u201cI rely on you.\u201d<\/p>\n

Last September, Herzog was named by the United Nations commission of inquiry<\/a> on the occupied Palestinian territory as having incited genocide against the Palestine people in Israel\u2019s prosecution of its war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The commission, which does not speak on behalf of the UN as a whole, cited a speech on 13 October 2023, when Herzog said all Palestinians were responsible for the Hamas attack.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s an entire nation out there that is responsible,\u201d<\/a> Herzog said. \u201cIt is not true, this rhetoric about civilians who were not aware and not involved. It is absolutely not true.\u201d<\/p>\n

The commission noted that the president\u2019s words were not an express call for genocide, but that, understood in the context of Israeli security forces launching offensives into Gaza, his comments \u201cmay reasonably be interpreted as incitement to the Israeli security forces personnel to target the Palestinians in Gaza as a group as being collectively culpable\u201d.<\/p>\n

Herzog later qualified his statement, saying \u201cthere are many, many innocent Palestinians who don\u2019t agree\u201d with the actions of Hamas. But the UN commission said it viewed that as an effort \u201cto deflect responsibility for the initial statement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s foreign ministry has previously rejected the commission\u2019s report<\/a> as \u201cdistorted and false\u201d, and Herzog has said his comments have been taken out of context, noting he also said Israel soldiers would follow international law.<\/p>\n

Herzog\u2019s initial bellicosity resonated. The slogan \u201cthere are no uninvolved<\/a>\u201d was subsequently chanted by Israeli soldiers deployed to Gaza, even written in Hebrew on an IDF watchtower in the West Bank.<\/p>\n

Healing \u2026 or division<\/p>\n

Opinion on Herzog\u2019s visit has been sharply divided, including within Australia\u2019s Jewish community.<\/p>\n

Aijac has welcomed the visit<\/a> as an opportunity to \u201cstrengthen the Australia-Israel relationship through constructive dialogue and renewed engagement\u201d.<\/p>\n

Aijac\u2019s executive director, Colin Rubenstein, says he is saddened by attempts to politicise the visit.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur view is that, after Bondi, Herzog\u2019s visit is not only appropriate, but an essential part of the healing process, and we are very confident we represent the overwhelming majority of Australian Jews in saying as much.\u201d<\/p>\n

Executive Council of Australian Jewry co-CEO Alex Ryvchin. Photograph: Bianca de Marchi\/AAP<\/p>\n

The Executive Council of Australian Jewry has argued similarly. Its co-chief executive Alex Ryvchin has said Herzog\u2019s visit would bring \u201ctremendous comfort to the families\u201d of Bondi victims and \u201chopefully a reset of the bilateral relationship\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cSometimes it takes a catastrophe, a tragedy, to bring a sense of perspective and clarity and bring two feuding partners together.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Palestinian groups are fiercely opposed to Herzog\u2019s visit. The president of the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network, Nasser Mashni, says \u201cAustralia\u2019s political elite is siding with genocide\u201d by welcoming Herzog.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor every Australian who says they believe in democracy, human rights, a fair go, free speech then you simply must protest Herzog\u2019s visit.\u201d<\/p>\n

On Tuesday the NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, extended protest restrictions in central Sydney, saying \u201csignificant animosity\u201d around Herzog\u2019s arrival in the country \u201cwas certainly a factor\u201d in his decision.<\/p>\n

Josh Lees, a spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group, said the NSW government was ripping up Australians\u2019 democratic rights \u201cin the service of Israel\u2019s ongoing slaughter of Palestinian civilians in Gaza\u201d.<\/p>\n

Protests are also planned in Melbourne and other cities.<\/p>\n

The JCA has said Herzog\u2019s arrival will \u201crightly spark mass protests\u201d.<\/p>\n

Its executive officer, Sarah Schwartz, argues that \u201cgrowing numbers of Jews in Australia and globally oppose the actions of the Israeli government and reject its attempts to speak in our name\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe refuse to be ignored or silenced.<\/p>\n

\u201cInviting 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. This does not make Jews safer. It does the opposite.\u201d<\/p>\n

Jewish Council of Australia\u2019s executive officer, Sarah Schwartz. Photograph: Con Chronis\/AAP<\/p>\n

Even within the government that invited him, support for Herzog\u2019s visit is not universal.<\/p>\n

The ruling Labor party\u2019s Friends of Palestine group has claimed Herzog \u201cworks hand in hand\u201d with Netanyahu, for whom the international criminal court has issued arrest warrants for war crimes and crimes against humanity.<\/p>\n

The ICC has not issued warrants for Herzog.<\/p>\n

The executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), Rawan Arraf, says there is a compelling basis for the Australian federal police<\/a> to commence an investigation into Herzog, despite the legal immunity he attracts by virtue of his position as head of state.<\/p>\n

\u201cAt a time when the federal government is criminalising hate speech, a person who is alleged to have incited hate to commit the ultimate crime \u2013 genocide \u2013 must not be allowed to enter Australian territory without facing accountability for these serious allegations.\u201d<\/p>\n

The ACIJ has lodged a formal request with the AFP to investigate Herzog. The AFP says it is \u201creviewing the material\u201d.<\/p>\n

Three further organisations \u2013 the JCA, the Australian National Imams Council and the Hind Rajab Foundation \u2013 have filed a complaint to the AFP, the home affairs minister, Tony Burke, and the attorney general, Michelle Rowland, urging Herzog be investigated and refused entry.<\/p>\n

\u201cTo welcome him to Australia would be an affront to justice, a threat to community safety and a violation of Australia\u2019s international legal duties,\u201d the complaint says.<\/p>\n

Details of Herzog\u2019s itinerary have not been revealed, beyond commitments to meet \u201cbereaved families of the victims of the terror attack\u201d, as well as the governor general and prime minister.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"When the president of Israel, Isaac Herzog, lands in Australia next week, it will be to a warm…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":5936,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[42,43,40,38,41,39],"class_list":{"0":"post-272594","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-headlines","8":"tag-headlines","9":"tag-news","10":"tag-top-news","11":"tag-top-stories","12":"tag-topnews","13":"tag-topstories"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272594","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=272594"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/272594\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/5936"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=272594"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=272594"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=272594"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}