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NSW Labor backbenchers have vowed to attend a Sydney protest against a visit by Israel\u2019s president, Isaac Herzog, with one stating he will be attending because Australia should not be welcoming the head of a state engaged in an \u201congoing genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n
Another member of government said he was attending \u2013 despite the premier opposing any rallies \u2013 to show that \u201cBondi was not caused by such protests\u201d.<\/p>\n
Upper house Labor MLCs Cameron Murphy, Stephen Lawrence and Sarah Kaine said they would attend Monday evening\u2019s rally organised by Palestine<\/a> Action Group as part of a nationwide protest. But it was not yet clear whether they would march from Town Hall to state parliament despite an effective ban.<\/p>\n Chris Minns\u2019 push to prohibit marches in designated areas following the Bondi terror attack<\/a> is continuing after the NSW police commissioner, Mal Lanyon, extended the restriction for a fourth time on Tuesday.<\/p>\n Lanyon said Herzog\u2019s visit was a factor in his decision. The restriction prevents the authorisation of protests under the form 1 system \u2013 which means protesters who march risk being arrested for obstructing traffic, for example.<\/p>\n Organisers of the Sydney protest have said they plan to march from Town Hall to Macquarie Street despite it falling within the restriction zone. They have called on NSW police to help facilitate<\/a> that peacefully.<\/p>\n Murphy said he would attend the rally \u201cbecause we should not be welcoming to Australia the head of a state engaged in an ongoing genocide\u201d. He told Guardian Australia that Herzog had signed a bomb<\/a> and had \u201cno regard for international law as an active supporter of illegal settlements\u201d.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n Lawrence said he would go to the rally at Town Hall but would decide on Monday whether to march. He said he would comply with the law.<\/p>\n \u201cI will be attending the rally because I want to make the obvious but important points that peaceful protest is lawful in this country; that Bondi was not caused by such protests; and that inviting the head of a state whose head of government is under ICC indictment suggests we don\u2019t take proceedings seriously,\u201d he told Guardian Australia.<\/p>\n On Tuesday evening, Lawrence said of the police\u2019s decision to extend the ban on marches in certain areas: \u201cI\u2019m just not sure that continually extending this thing to apply it to the visit of the Israeli president is actually going to make us more safe.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cIt could be creating a flashpoint, and it concerns me,\u201d he told ABC radio.<\/p>\n The current protest ban is facing a constitutional challenge<\/a>. Lawrence, who is also a barrister, raised serious concerns over the hearing being delayed.<\/p>\n He pointed out that the state had agreed the case could be heard on 16 January, but \u201cafter the judge on duty spoke to the chief justice, it was then not listed until the end of February\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThe people who seek to protest have not had the opportunity to have the court rule on it,\u201d Lawrence said.<\/p>\n Kaine said she would attend PAG\u2019s rally, at which she was scheduled to speak. Asked if she would march if that went through the restricted area, she said: \u201cAt the moment, my plans are to attend a legal protest.\u201d<\/p>\n \u201cWe all just have to be aware that what is legal is nuanced,\u201d Kaine told Guardian Australia, adding she would be attending on Monday evening, \u201cin the light of the discussions around protest that have been going on,\u201d and to object to Herzog\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n \u201cI don\u2019t think we should be welcoming someone to this country who is so heavily implicated in the actions that have resulted in the death of 75,000 innocent Gazans.\u201d<\/p>\n A spokesperson for the Palestine Action Group, Josh Lees, said on Tuesday there had been no safety issues at the near-weekly pro-Palestine rallies held over the past two years. Minns declared on Tuesday that \u201cwe just can\u2019t have a riot in Sydney\u201d.<\/p>\n Minns said on Wednesday he had not spoken to MPs who planned to attend rallies during Herzog\u2019s visit. The premier said police were negotiating with the Palestine Action Group about the location of their protest.<\/p>\n Asked if the government was divided over Herzog\u2019s visit, Minns said: \u201cLook, the cabinet\u2019s certainly not.\u201d He accepted there had been division in the wider party \u201cor even Labor MPs \u2026 and that\u2019s been the way for a long period of time<\/a>\u201d.<\/p>\n Minns was asked on Wednesday about the possibility of Labor politicians being arrested under legislation rushed through parliament in December. The premier replied: \u201cI don\u2019t think that\u2019s necessarily the case that that will happen.\u201d<\/p>\n The state Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, said on Wednesday: \u201cIf there\u2019s a march, I\u2019ll be marching.<\/p>\n \u201cNeither the premier nor the police commissioner will stop me and the thousands of others who know genocide is wrong \u2013 and we have a right to protest.\u201d<\/p>\n A UN commission concluded in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza<\/a>. That commission, which does not speak on behalf of the UN, stated that Herzog, the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, \u201chave incited the commission of genocide\u201d.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s foreign ministry rejected<\/a> the commission\u2019s report, calling it \u201cdistorted and false\u201d and claiming it \u201crelies entirely on Hamas falsehoods\u201d.<\/p>\n Herzog has called the genocide case against Israel in the international court of justice<\/a> a \u201cform of blood libel\u201d<\/a> and pushed back on criticism of his 2023 statement<\/a> that \u201cit is an entire nation out there that is responsible\u201d for the 7 October attacks on Israel.<\/p>\n He claimed he had been taken out of context, and noted he had said in the same media appearance that Israel would respect international law and there was no excuse for the killing of innocent civilians. The ICJ is yet to issue its final ruling.<\/p>\n