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Israel\u2019s president, Isaac Herzog, has told members of the Jewish community \u201cwhen one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain\u201d as he begins a four-day visit to Australia to speak with survivors of the Bondi terror attack and the victims\u2019 families.<\/p>\n
But Herzog\u2019s trip \u2013 which began in Sydney<\/a> on Monday morning \u2013 has prompted protests, with thousands turning out in Sydney and Melbourne to voice their opposition to his visit.<\/p>\n Herzog, who arrived in Sydney<\/a> on Monday morning, laid a wreath at the site of the antisemitic attack alongside the New South Wales premier, Chris Minns.<\/p>\n Along with his wife, Michal Herzog, he also placed two stones from Jerusalem at a memorial outside the Bondi Pavilion. The president said placing stones on graves in the Jewish tradition represented \u201cthe endurance of memory, the weight of loss and the unbreakable bond between the living and those we have lost\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cThese stones \u2026 will remain here at Bondi for eternity in sacred memory of the victims and as a reminder that the bonds between good people of all faiths and all nations will continue to hold strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred,\u201d Herzog told reporters.<\/p>\n Sign up: AU Breaking News email<\/sub><\/a><\/p>\n In a post on X, the Israeli embassy said the presidential couple were met by Israel\u2019s ambassador to Australia, Amir Maimon, after their plane touched down in Sydney on Monday.<\/p>\n The Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ) welcomed Herzog\u2019s visit as a moment of profound significance.<\/p>\n The co-chief executive, Alex Ryvchin, said Herzog\u2019s visit would mean \u201ca great deal\u201d for survivors and families.<\/p>\n \u201cHis visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and, we hope, it will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n Speaking at Bondi, Herzog paid tribute to \u201c15 innocent souls who gathered to celebrate Hanukah, the festival of light, [and] were massacred in cold blood\u201d.<\/p>\n He remembered \u201cthe youngest victim, sweet Matilda, [who] was just 10 years old\u201d as well as 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, who \u201csurvived the extermination of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust only to be murdered for being a Jew on the beaches of Sydney\u201d.<\/p>\n \u201cIn the aftermath of the attack, the people of Australia stood together in grief and solidarity with the Jewish community; the world\u2019s only Jewish state, the state of Israel, and the nation of Israel stood together with the Australian people,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n \u201cWe stood with Australian Jews for we are one big family, and when one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain.\u201d<\/p>\n Herzog said a rise in antisemitism around the world was \u201cnot a Jewish problem\u201d but a \u201cglobal emergency\u201d.<\/p>\n He welcomed steps taken by the Australian government since the attack but, when asked if he shared the frustrations of the Jewish community about responses beforehand, said: \u201cThese frustrations were shared by many, many of us.\u201d<\/p>\n Herzog later posted pictures of him and Israel\u2019s first lady embracing victims\u2019 family members.<\/p>\n \u201cFrom here at Bondi, I embrace the bereaved families, pray for a speedy recovery for all those injured, and express my deepest gratitude to all those heroes who saved innocent lives under fire,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n The details of Herzog\u2019s visit have been tightly controlled. He was expected to address community events in Sydney before travelling to Canberra and Melbourne.<\/p>\n Israel\u2019s government press office said Herzog would meet the prime minister, Anthony Albanese, the governor general, Sam Mostyn, \u201cas well as with leaders from across the political spectrum\u201d.<\/p>\n Albanese invited Herzog after the 14 December antisemitic shooting, saying his visit was intended to foster a greater sense of unity.<\/p>\n Other members of Australia\u2019s Jewish community signed a letter published on Monday saying the Israeli president was not welcome in Australia, taking out full-page ads in the Age and the Sydney Morning Herald newspapers.<\/p>\n \u201cWelcoming [Herzog] in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre betrays Jewish communities, multicultural Australia and everyone who stands for Palestinian human rights and international law,\u201d the letter, signed by more than 600 members of the Jewish community, read. The ads were organised by the Jewish Council of Australia, which has been a vocal critic of the Israeli government.<\/p>\n Thousands of protesters gathered at Sydney\u2019s Town Hall, including former Australian of the Year Grace Tame and three NSW Labor backbenchers who defied the premier and vowed to attend the protest. Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi spoke, referring to Herzog\u2019s visit as a \u201cnormalisation tour\u201d.<\/p>\n Thousands also gathered in Melbourne, where Lidia Thorpe told the crowd she stood in solidarity with Bondi victims, but also with her \u201cPalestinian brothers and sisters\u201d.<\/p>\n Some have called for Herzog\u2019s arrest<\/a> after a finding by a UN commission, which does not speak on behalf of the UN, that Herzog, along with the Israeli prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then defence minister, Yoav Gallant, \u201chave incited the commission of genocide\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 Asked what his message was to protesters, Herzog said on Monday: \u201cIt is important for me to say that I\u2019ve come here in goodwill.<\/p>\n \u201cThese demonstrations, in most cases, what you hear and see comes to undermine and delegitimise our right, my nation\u2019s right, the nation which I am the head of state of, of its mere existence.\u201d<\/p>\n The NSW premier, Chris Minns, called for calm on Monday. Later on Monday the Palestine<\/a> Action Group lost its legal challenge in the supreme court against sweeping powers handed to police by the Minns government for the duration of Israeli president Isaac Herzog\u2019s visit.<\/p>\n Minns advised of a \u201cmassive police operation\u201d, including 500 officers in Sydney\u2019s inner ring, and officers carrying long-arm rifles in \u201cvarious areas\u201d.<\/p>\nCriticism of Herzog\u2019s visit<\/h2>\n