'Arrest Herzog': Protests erupt across Australia against Israeli president's visit

Thousands across Australia marched on Monday to protest against Israeli President Isaac Herzog, who is on an official visit to express solidarity with the Jewish community following the mass shooting at a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach in December.

Herzog will meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, Governor-General Sam Mostyn, opposition leader Sussan Ley, premiers and members of the Jewish community, including families of victims and survivors of the attack that killed 15 people and wounded dozens.

“My visit to Australia, to all of you, is one of solidarity, strength, and sincere friendship from the State of Israel and the people of Israel. Together, we must confront the evils of antisemitism, extremism, and terror here in Australia and around the world,” said Herzog in a statement on X.

His visit prompted countrywide protests, with campaigners highlighting Israel's ongoing genocide in the Gaza Strip and calling for investigations into the Israeli leader's role in the war. 

In Sydney, thousands gathered in a square in the city's central business district, listening to speeches and chanting pro-Palestine slogans.

“We do not accept his presence in this land. We do not accept the ongoing genocide and we call for sanctions on Israel and the arrest of Israel’s president,” said one demonstrator.

Rarely invoked powers

Herzog's four-day visit has been declared a major event, and authorities have been ordered by the Labor government to use rarely invoked powers during the visit, including the ability to restrict entry to certain areas and direct people to leave.

The Palestine Action Group in Australia argued that the government had improperly used the legislation as a “backdoor way” to curtail protests.

The pro-Palestine activist organisation lost its legal battle against the state in the Supreme Court on Monday after launching an urgent challenge to the powers before a protest planned at Sydney’s town hall on Monday evening.

Online, many have condemned the New South Wales Police’s handling of the demonstrations, accusing them of unprovoked violence.

Footage of officers roughly detaining protestors and using pepper spray was shared widely.

In one clip, police can be seen grabbing and pushing some Muslims praying in front of Sydney's Town Hall.

Online, people shared videos of demonstrators gathered in cities across the country, including Melbourne, Sydney and Brisbane, with the hashtags #ArrestHerzog and #HerzogNotWelcome. 

Shared with us from Sydney happening now. He had his hands up. pic.twitter.com/Ubdo00Y15j

— David Shoebridge (@DavidShoebridge) February 9, 2026

Progressive advocacy organisation Jewish Council of Australia accused Albanese of using Jewish grief as a “political prop and diplomatic backdrop”.

“Inviting a foreign head of state who is implicated in an ongoing genocide as a representative of the Jewish community is deeply offensive and risks entrenching the dangerous and antisemitic conflation between Jewish identity and the actions of the Israeli state,” said executive officer Sarah Schwartz in a statement in January. 

“As Israel’s head of state, Herzog is not a ceremonial figure,” said Australia Palestine Advocacy Network.

“During his presidency, Israel has carried out mass civilian killing, imposed starvation through blockade, bombed hospitals, killed journalists and aid workers, including Australian Zomi Frankcom, escalated settler violence and illegal settlements, and repeatedly broken ceasefires. As the UN warned of famine, Herzog denied starvation while food, water, and medical supplies were being cut off.

“Welcoming Herzog is not diplomacy. It is endorsement.”

Amnesty International Australia responded: “As Australia hosts President Herzog, cited by Amnesty, the International Court of Justice and the UN Independent Commission of Inquiry for incitement to genocide, the Government must honour its obligation under International and domestic law to hold perpetrators to account.”

The United Nations commission of inquiry in August found Herzog, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and then-Defence Minister Yoav Gallant were “liable to prosecution for incitement to genocide” against Palestinians in Gaza. 

Herzog, who has backed Israel's assault on the war-torn enclave, claimed that all Palestinians, “an entire nation”, were responsible for the Hamas-led attack on southern Israel on 7 October 2023.

“It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It is absolutely not true,” Herzog said in an October 2023 statement the UN concluded was “direct and public incitement to commit genocide”.