{"id":281152,"date":"2026-02-08T21:00:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-08T21:00:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/281152\/"},"modified":"2026-02-08T21:00:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-08T21:00:09","slug":"what-to-know-about-the-israeli-presidents-state-visit-to-australia","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/281152\/","title":{"rendered":"What to know about the Israeli president’s state visit to Australia"},"content":{"rendered":"

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) \u2014 The stated purpose of Israel President Isaac Herzog\u2019s<\/a> visit to Australia is to support the Jewish community still reeling from an antisemitic attack<\/a> at Sydney\u2019s Bondi Beach that left 15 dead. But his critics warn his presence undermines rather than repairs social cohesion frayed by the far away war in Gaza.<\/p>\n

Protest rallies are expected to follow the president, who performs a largely ceremonial role as head of state, as he travels to Sydney, Melbourne and Canberra over four days starting Monday. Some critics demand he be arrested in Australia on suspicion of inciting genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n

He is the first Israeli head of state to visit Australia since Reuven Rivlin<\/a> in 2020. Herzog\u2019s father, Chaim Herzog<\/a>, also visited Australia as Israel\u2019s president in 1986.<\/p>\n

Here\u2019s what to know:<\/p>\n

The Australian visit comes at a time of extraordinary bilateral tensions<\/p>\n

Within hours of two gunmen allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group launching their attack in Sydney on Dec. 14 last year, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed<\/a> his Australian counterpart Anthony Albanese<\/a>, posting on social media \u201cyour call for a Palestinian state pours fuel on the antisemitic fire.\u201d<\/p>\n

Netanyahu<\/a> had been outraged by Australia\u2019s decision four months earlier to join France, Britain and Canada in recognizing a Palestinian state<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to link widespread calls for a Palestinian state, and criticism of Israel\u2019s military offensive in Gaza, to growing incidents of antisemitism<\/a> worldwide.<\/p>\n

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Albanese has accused Netanyahu of being \u201cin denial\u201d over the humanitarian consequences of war in Gaza. Netanyahu has branded the Australian a \u201cweak politician who betrayed Israel and abandoned Australia\u2019s Jews.\u201d <\/p>\n

Australian Jews have appealed to both leaders to restore \u201cdiplomatic norms\u201d to a bilateral relationship that had been friendly for decades.<\/p>\n

Albanese has made clear his government\u2019s invitation to Herzog to make that state visit was the idea of Jewish leaders.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Herzog is coming particularly to engage with members of the Jewish community who are grieving the loss of 15 innocent lives,\u201d Albanese said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople should recognize the solemn nature of the engagement that President Herzog will have with the community of Bondi in particular, and bear that in mind by the way that they respond over coming weeks,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Jewish leaders welcome Herzog\u2019s visit<\/p>\n

Sydney-based Jewish leader Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said his community \u201cwarmly anticipates\u201d Herzog\u2019s arrival.<\/p>\n

\u201cHis visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and we hope will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies,\u201d Ryvchin said.<\/p>\n

\u201cPresident Herzog is a patriot and a person of dignity and compassion and holds an office that is above party politics. He is a person who has sadly had to comfort families, police and first responders after terrorist attacks many times, and will know how to reassure and fortify our community in its darkest time,\u201d he added.<\/p>\n

Ryvchin is one of the Australian Jewish leaders who have accused Albanese\u2019s center-left Labor Party government of not doing enough to curb an increase in antisemitism in Sydney and Melbourne, where 85% of Australia\u2019s Jewish population live, since the Israel-Hamas war<\/a> began in 2023.<\/p>\n

Herzog sees opportunity to reset relations<\/p>\n

Herzog, a former head of Israel\u2019s centrist Labor Party, now holds a job meant to serve as a unifier and moral compass for all Israelis. A onetime rival of Netanyahu, he has good working relations with the prime minister.<\/p>\n

Ahead of his visit, Herzog told The Associated Press that the \u201cprimary reason\u201d for the trip was to stand with Australia\u2019s Jewish community as the representative of all Israelis.<\/p>\n

\u201cFrom thousands of miles away in Israel, we feel the deep pain of our Jewish Australian sisters and brothers. I am coming to show them our love and support at this devastating time,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

But Herzog also said the visit is an opportunity \u201cto reinvigorate relations\u201d between Israel and Australia.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere is a long history of partnership between our two nations and deeply held shared values,\u201d he said, adding that the visit \u201coffers a chance to reignite the longstanding bipartisan support for ties between Israel and Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cI hope to be able to communicate this message of goodwill and friendship to the Australian people, and dispel many of the lies and misinformation spread about Israel over the last two years,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Israel\u2019s critics have called for Herzog\u2019s invitation to be withdrawn<\/p>\n

\u201cThis is one of the most divisive figures in the world. Bringing him to Australia will undermine social cohesion, it will not rebuild it. It will increase division, it will not bring about national unity,\u201d Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti said. Sidoti described the invitation as a \u201dcrazy idea.\u201d<\/p>\n

Sidoti was one of three experts appointed by the U.N.\u2019s Human Rights Council to an inquiry that reported<\/a> in September last year that Herzog, Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant<\/a> had incited the commission of genocide in Gaza.<\/p>\n

The findings carry no legal consequence and Israel has rejected genocide allegations against the country as antisemitic \u201cblood libel.\u201d Sidoti and other lawyers say Australian police could potentially arrest Herzog on suspicion of inciting genocide, which is a crime under Australian law as well as international law. Australian Federal Police have declined to comment.<\/p>\n

A lawmaker in Albanese\u2019s government, Ed Husic,<\/a> said he was \u201cvery uncomfortable\u201d with Herzog\u2019s visit. Husic, a Muslim and vocal critic of Israel\u2019s conduct in Gaza, said he was \u201cconcerned that a figure like that doesn\u2019t necessarily enhance social cohesion.\u201d<\/p>\n

Some state government lawmakers from Albanese\u2019s Labor Party have said they will join a protest in downtown Sydney on Monday planned by the Palestine Action Group activist organization.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe need to send a clear message to our government and to the world \u2026 we are fundamentally opposed to this tour, which is designed to normalize genocide,\u201d protest organizer Josh Lees said.<\/p>\n

Police prepare to use enhanced powers of arrest to control protesters in Sydney<\/p>\n

In response to the Bondi shooting<\/a>, the New South Wales state parliament rushed through legislation increasing police powers to arrest protesters in the aftermath of a declared terrorist attack.<\/p>\n

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns<\/a> said a heightened police response in Sydney during Herzog\u2019s visit was necessary to ensure safety.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe will have thousands of mourners and thousands of protesters as well as a visiting head of state all in the same city at the same time. And we\u2019ve got a responsibility to keep people safe in those circumstances,\u201d Minns said.<\/p>\n

\u201cEvery international city anywhere in the world would apply exactly the same geographical restrictions so that the two groups don\u2019t meet and as a result there\u2019s not a major confrontation,\u201d Minns added.<\/p>\n

___<\/p>\n

Associated Press writer Josef Federman in Jerusalem contributed.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) \u2014 The stated purpose of Israel President Isaac Herzog\u2019s visit to Australia is to support…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":281153,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[120,144492,33147,111,972,20436,49,144493,6879,144491,6557,144494,69,122,1901,85,8072,2894,46,1984,61,144495,43,238,5468,31008,104317,132811,25436,98,126,27773],"class_list":["post-281152","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-israel","tag-2024-2025-mideast-wars","tag-alex-ryvchin","tag-anthony-albanese","tag-antisemitism","tag-australia","tag-australia-government","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-chaim-herzog","tag-chris-minns","tag-chris-sidoti","tag-diplomacy","tag-ed-husic","tag-gaza-strip","tag-general-news","tag-genocide","tag-il","tag-international-news","tag-isaac-herzog","tag-israel","tag-israel-government","tag-israel-hamas-war","tag-josh-lees","tag-news","tag-politics","tag-protests-and-demonstrations","tag-race-and-ethnicity","tag-reuven-rivlin","tag-send-to-apple-news","tag-sydney","tag-terrorism","tag-world-news","tag-yoav-gallant"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281152","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=281152"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/281152\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/281153"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=281152"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=281152"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=281152"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}