Camille Naredo

Article (news)

Isaac Herzog

<p>SYDNEY, Australia -- Sydney police deployed pepper spray and scuffled with protesters on Monday as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel&#x27;s President Isaac Herzog turned violent.</p><p>Herzog&#x27;s tightly secured, four-day visit was aimed at consoling Australia&#x27;s Jewish community in the wake of the December shooting at Sydney&#x27;s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.</p><p>But he was met with protests in Australia&#x27;s two largest cities on Monday evening, with a Sydney rally turning violent as police hit protesters and members of the media, including AFP, with pepper spray.</p><p>An AFP journalist said they saw at least 15 protesters being arrested and scuffling with police.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2026/1/20/australia-stiffens-hate-crime-gun-laws-after-bondi-attack-2126">READ: Australia stiffens hate crime, gun laws after Bondi attack</a></div><p>Crowds also gathered in the center of Melbourne demanding an end to Israel&#x27;s &quot;occupation&quot; of the Palestinian territories.</p><p>Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had urged people to be respectful of the reason for Herzog&#x27;s visit, saying he would join the president to meet with the families of those killed at Bondi Beach.</p><p>The New South Wales state government invoked new powers giving police greater powers to control demonstrations.</p><p>And an attempt by protesters to overturn those powers in the state&#x27;s Supreme Court failed just before the rally began, local media said.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;Overcome evil&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Earlier, the Israeli head of state paid homage to the victims under rain and grey skies as he laid a wreath outside the beachside Bondi Pavilion.</p><p>&quot;The bonds between good people of all faiths and all nations will continue to hold strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred,&quot; he said.</p><p>&quot;We shall overcome this evil together.&quot;</p><p>Herzog said he laid two stones from Jerusalem at Bondi Beach &quot;in sacred memory of the victims&quot;.</p><p>He welcomed &quot;positive steps&quot; by the Australian government to fight antisemitism, with the introduction of tougher gun and hate crime laws since the attack -- the deadliest against Jews since Hamas&#x27;s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/12/30/police-say-bondi-beach-mass-shooting-suspects-acted-alone-1036">READ: Police say Bondi Beach mass shooting suspects &#x27;acted alone&#x27;</a></div><p>The Israeli president also told reporters that he shared people&#x27;s frustrations about a rise in antisemitism all over the world.</p><p>Among the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting were an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, a couple who confronted one of the gunmen, and 10-year-old Matilda, who was described at her funeral as a &quot;ray of sunshine&quot;.</p><p>Alleged Bondi Beach gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.</p><p>His 24-year-old son Naveed, an Australian-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.</p><div><br/></div><div><strong>- &#x27;A pained community&#x27; -</strong></div><p>Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog&#x27;s trip.</p><p>&quot;His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community,&quot; said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community&#x27;s peak body.</p><p>But some in the community disagreed, with the progressive Jewish Council of Australia saying he was not welcome because of his alleged role in the &quot;ongoing destruction of Gaza&quot;.</p><div><a class="fr-green fr-strong" href="https://www.abs-cbn.com/news/world/2025/12/16/timeline-how-the-bondi-beach-mass-shooting-unfolded-1658">Timeline: How the Bondi Beach mass shooting unfolded</a></div><p>The UN&#x27;s Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians -- &quot;an entire nation&quot; -- were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel.</p><p>Israel has &quot;categorically&quot; rejected the inquiry&#x27;s report, describing it as &quot;distorted and false&quot; and calling for the body&#x27;s abolition.</p><p>The Israeli head of state said he has &quot;come here in good will&quot;.</p><p>He accused protesters of seeking to &quot;undermine and delegitimize&quot; Israel&#x27;s right to exist.</p>

<p>Sydney police deployed pepper spray and scuffled with protesters on Monday as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel's President Isaac Herzog turned violent.</p>

Sydney police deployed pepper spray and scuffled with protesters on Monday as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel's President Isaac Herzog turned violent.

Sydney police deploy pepper spray as Israeli president's visit sparks protests

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Sydney police deploy pepper spray as Israeli president's visit sparks protests

Iain Boyd with Janelle Meager in Melbourne,

Agence France-Presse

Published Feb 09, 2026 07:01 PM PHT

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Sydney

Australia

Israel

Isaac Herzog

Bondi Beach

Palestine

Israel-Hamas War

Anthony Albanese

New South Wales

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