Israel’s President Isaac Herzog wrapped up his visit to Australia with a sense of optimism, despite encountering protests against his presence. Speaking in Melbourne, Herzog directly addressed the demonstrators, emphasizing a message of hope.
The president’s final engagements in Melbourne concluded a four-day tour of Australia. During his visit, Herzog engaged with leading politicians, community figures, and over 500 Jewish and Victorian leaders, as well as senior school students, all within a highly secured venue in Southbank. Security was tight, with a substantial police presence and adjacent blocks under lockdown.
Herzog expressed his mission to offer solace and solidarity to the Jewish community on behalf of Israel and the global Jewish population. “We were here to console and to salute the many heroes of Bondi,” he remarked, referencing the strong ties between Australia and Israel. He added, “We came to strengthen you, but we leave more fortified ourselves.”
The president’s visit was not without controversy, as his presence incited national protests, culminating in a large demonstration in Sydney that turned violent earlier in the week. Despite this, Herzog remained focused on the positive aspects of his diplomatic mission, aiming to reinvigorate bilateral relations between the two nations.
“We came to salute the many heroes of Bondi and to reinvigorate the relations between Australia and Israel. I can now say that while we came to give strength to all of you, we live more strengthened than before.”
The president’s trip had sparked widespread controversy and national protests, including a mass demonstration that turned violent in Sydney on Monday.
Herzog also commented on the large security detail outside the secret venue on Thursday.
“It’s obscure and odd that we need to have so many incredible police officers protecting us for the inherent right of us to gather here as proud Jews,” he said.
“I say to all those protesters outside, go protest in front of the Iranian embassy or whichever embassy they have,” Herzog said to a cheering crowd, saying the “empire of evil” had killed tens of thousands of their own people.
Police have been given special search powers in Melbourne, with a protest at Flinders Street Station in the city’s CBD in the late afternoon expected to attract more than 5,000 people, police officials said earlier.
The Flinders Street demonstration is expected to remain peaceful, according to police, who said there was no specific threat to the president.
The powers apply to specific areas Herzog will attend while in Melbourne.
Herzog was invited to Australia by the federal government following the Bondi terror attack, but he has received a hostile reception from protesters and some politicians over Israel’s actions in Gaza.
At least nine people were charged and 27 arrested after protesters were punched and pushed by police when an anti-Herzog rally turned violent in Sydney’s CBD on Monday.
Synagogue visit cancellation leaves some ‘very uncomfortable’
Meanwhile, some members of Australia’s Jewish community have been left feeling “very uncomfortable” by the Israeli president’s decision to cancel a visit to a place of worship amid security concerns.
Herzog planned to begin the last day of his four-day Australian tour at the site of Melbourne’s Adass Israel synagogue on Thursday morning.
The Ripponlea temple has been closed since it was firebombed in late 2024, but remains a significant site for some sections of the local Jewish community, especially members of the ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect for whom it was a community hub.
Adass member Abe Weiszberger said the cancellation had left members of the congregation feeling “very uncomfortable”.
“To call it a shame would be an understatement,” he said, reflecting on the significance of the visit for the grieving Jewish community, he told AAP.
“When someone comes here to comfort you, and they come to be with you in your home, what do you think that feels like?”
Daniel Aghion, president of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, is travelling alongside Herzog through Melbourne on Thursday.
Asked what he made of the planned protests, Aghion urged Victorians to remember the reasons behind the president’s visit.
“Those who are protesting his visit should think about what the Australian Jewish community has suffered and whether it is appropriate for protest about an international conflict to be made at this time,” he told AAP.
Jewish community leaders, the prime minister and Herzog himself have highlighted that the visit was largely intended to provide consolation to the Jewish community after the Bondi attack.
However, Herzog told Nine newspaper journalists ahead of his arrival: “Part of my visit is also to explain the Israeli perception of things”, referring to the October 7 attack and Israel’s response in Gaza.
In his speech at Sydney’s International Conference Centre on Monday night, Herzog made several references to the October 7 attack and its aftermath, drawing links between it and the Bondi attack.
He said “Israel was brokenhearted” by the attack led by Hamas militants in which 1,200 people were killed and 251 hostages seized.
Referring to Israel’s retaliatory offensive — which has killed more than 70,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza health officials — Herzog said: “The Jewish democratic state of Israel was fighting to defend itself in a war we did not seek. We did not choose that war.”
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