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<\/a><\/p>\nProtesters carry flags and placards during a rally against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s upcoming Australian visit on Feb. 1, 2026 in Sydney. (Lisa Maree Williams\/Getty Images)<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
Following Herzog\u2019s invitation to visit the country by Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, some Labor party members and pro-Palestinian groups called for the invitation to be rescinded.<\/p>\n
Those calls have reached a fever pitch in recent weeks, with Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti calling on Albanese to rescind the invitation or arrest Herzog on arrival for inciting \u201cgenocide.\u201d<\/p>\n
Australia\u2019s minister of foreign affairs, Penny Wong, defended the visit in an interview with ABC radio, telling the station that it was the wishes of the Jewish community following the December terror attack on a Hanukkah celebration in Sydney that killed 15.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have the Australian Jewish community who have been targeted in an overtly antisemitic terrorist attack. We have had 15 Australians die, we have families mourning, and this was a request from the Jewish community for President Herzog to visit,\u201d said Wong, herself a staunch a critic of Israel.<\/p>\n
In an interview with the Sydney Morning Herald published Friday, Herzog called Sidoti\u2019s statements \u201canother lie and another distortion of the facts,\u201d adding that he was visiting the country to \u201cvisit my sisters and brothers of the Jewish community to console and pay our respects to the grieving families and to the community.\u201d<\/p>\n
Herzog is expected to visit the country from Sunday to Thursday and is slated to meet with Albanese as well as the survivors and the families of the victims of the shooting.<\/p>\n
Multiple groups have petitioned for Herzog\u2019s possible arrest. On Thursday, Human Rights Watch cited a U.N. Commission of Inquiry report accusing Herzog and other Israeli leaders of \u201cdirect and public incitement to commit genocide\u201d in calling on Albanese to consider deploying local laws to prosecute him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhile showing appropriate concern for the Jewish community, the Australian government should not shy away from denouncing and pushing for an end to the Israeli government\u2019s longstanding serious violations of human rights and international humanitarian law,\u201d the human rights NGO said.<\/p>\n
The progressive Jewish Council of Australia lodged a legal complaint last week calling for Herzog to be \u201carrested or barred from entering Australia.\u201d<\/p>\n
The complaint, which was jointly filed with the Hind Rajab Foundation and the Australian National Imams Council, alleges that Herzog \u201cincited genocide and aided and abetted war crimes, rendering him unfit to enter the country under Australian law.\u201d<\/p>\n
Widespread protests against Herzog\u2019s visit have been planned throughout Australia by the Palestine Action Group, including in Sydney, where New South Wales Police have announced restrictions on protests, citing the behavior of some protesters who \u201ccontinue to incite violence and cause fear and harm.\u201d<\/p>\n
New South Wales Police have deployed thousands of officers to ensure the mandate is upheld. They have also warned that they will arrest protesters who breach the restrictions in place.<\/p>\n
While officials said during a press conference earlier in the week that there was \u201cno particular known threat\u201d to Herzog known by police, a 19-year-old Sydney man was granted bail on Thursday after he being charged with making online threats to Herzog.<\/p>\n
The executive director of the Australia\/Israel and Jewish Affairs Council, Colin Rubenstein, condemned the protest efforts as the group issued a rebuttal on Friday to claims against Herzog.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are disturbed and saddened by the groups and individuals determined to politicise this visit by labelling it \u2018divisive\u2019 and attempting to misrepresent Herzog\u2019s words after October 7,\u201d he said in a statement. \u201cOur view is that, after Bondi, Herzog\u2019s visit is not only appropriate, but an essential part of the healing process \u2014 and we are very confident we represent the overwhelming majority of Australian Jews in saying as much.\u201d<\/p>\n