1 hour ago
Anthony Albanese has defended the government’s invitation to Israeli president, Isaac Herzog, to visit, after another federal MP joined calls to cancel the visit after the Bondi terror attack.
Herzog’s arrival in February will be met by a “major security response” in Sydney and planned protests nationwide from pro-Palestinian groups demonstrating against the civilian death toll from Israel’s war on Gaza.
Labor’s internal Friends of Palestine group has again called on the government to rescind Herzog’s invitation, a call echoed by independent MP Sophie Scamps on Thursday who said the visit “risks igniting further division”.
Herzog was invited by the Albanese government to Australia after the December shooting at a Bondi Hanukah festival, which left 15 people dead. Herzog’s spokesperson said on Wednesday he would travel between 8 and 12 February and visit Jewish communities.
The Palestine Action Group has announced plans to hold a “national day of protest”. Federal Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi earlier this month criticised the government for “welcoming the president of a state committing an ongoing genocide.”
Scamps - the member for Mackellar in northern Sydney- added her voice today.
“For all of us after Bondi, the priority ought to be the safety and security of the Jewish community. Inviting a divisive figure, even a head of state, can only invite division and further risk,” she said in a statement.
The Palestinian death toll in the Israel-Gaza war has surpassed 70,000, Gaza’s health ministry said in November, after 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas terror attack of 7 October 2023.
Israeli forces have killed at least 425 Palestinians in Gaza since the current ceasefire agreement took effect, according to Gaza’s health ministry.
Scamps pointed to the United Nations commission of inquiry’s conclusion in September 2025 that Israel had committed genocide in Gaza. That commission, which does not speak on behalf of the UN, stated Herzog, Israel’s prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then defence minister Yoav Gallant “incited the commission of genocide”.
Israel’s foreign ministry has previously rejected the report, calling it “distorted and false” and claiming it “relies entirely on Hamas falsehoods”.
Herzog has called the separate genocide case against Israel in the international court of justice a “form of blood libel” and pushed back on criticism of his comments about the Gaza war, noting he had said 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.
Scamps continued: “Inviting a foreign head of state who has been found to have incited the commission of genocide risks deeply dividing the Australian community.”
“In the aftermath of the Bondi attack, this visit risks heightening tensions and deepening divisions, at a time when the Government’s priority should be fostering social cohesion, security and safety for Jewish Australians and for all communities.”
Shadow foreign minister, Michaelia Cash, on Wednesday said the opposition welcomed the visit, and said planned protests were “deeply disappointing”.
Multicultural affairs minister Anne Aly stopped short of explicitly welcoming Herzog’s visit in an ABC radio interview, describing the invitation as “protocol” after such a tragic event.
In a later written statement, Aly clarified that she appreciated the significance of Herzog’s visit, and that she would “welcome anything that assists” Australians further uniting after the Bondi attack.
Albanese, in a press conference, welcomed Herzog’s visit.
“Anne Aly has certainly made a statement which is welcoming the role that this will play in unity, which is what we’re calling for. This country needs to come together,” he said.
“I certainly welcome [Herzog] coming and I look forward to visiting, and I note that Anne Aly has made appropriate comments as well, welcoming the fact that this will be, welcoming anything that leads to a greater sense of unity. We need to build social cohesion in this country.”
The Palestine Action Group will hold its Sydney march at Town Hall, an area where protests are currently restricted after police effectively banned demonstrations in certain parts of the CBD in the wake of the Bondi terror attack. Police next week are due to announce whether that restriction will be extended for another 14 days.
NSW premier Chris Minns didn’t rule out whether he would like to see state police extend a declaration restricting protests to cover the planned rally, noting Herzog had been invited by the federal government and that the visit must be “a safe one”.
“Not just for President Herzog, but other people in our community, other citizens of Australia, who will want to be going to work or meeting the president, or having nothing to do with the president, but going about their daily work on the week,” he said.
“We’ll have further to say about that in the days ahead, but I think the public can anticipate a major security response.”
Josh Lees, of the Palestine Action Group, said: “That Monday evening, thousands and thousands and thousands of us are going to be gathering in dozens of cities all around this country to say [Herzog] is not welcome here.”
“If he [Herzog] steps foot in this country, he should be arrested and investigated for the war crimes that he is alleged to have carried out, including inciting genocide in Gaza.”
