‘Grave insult’: activists vow to protest Israeli leader

Police and protesters appear to be on a collision course as activists vow to take to the streets to oppose the Israeli president’s Australian visit.

Protesters are vowing to defy restrictions and speak out against the Israeli president, arguing his Australian visit is designed to “normalise a genocide”.

Rallies have been organised in every state capital across the country before Isaac Herzog’s four-day tour, including a major protest in Sydney on Monday.

But organisers’ proposed protest route – from Town Hall to NSW Parliament House – is prohibited under a declaration that allows police to refuse to authorise public assemblies in key parts of the city.

NSW Police have urged Palestine Action Group to come to the table and move the rally to an approved area.

The pro-Palestine group’s representatives flatly denied that request, calling on police to facilitate the march and not arrest participants.

“It is outrageous the NSW premier has sent his police out to the media to threaten and to try to intimidate peaceful protesters who intend to come out on Monday to express their opposition to the visit of the head of a genocidal state,” organiser Josh Lees said.

“We need to send a clear message to our government and to the world … we are fundamentally opposed to this tour, which is designed to normalise genocide.”

After the Bondi terror attack, laws rushed through NSW parliament gave police powers to prevent NSW residents from seeking authorisation for rallies after a declared terrorist incident.

It leaves participants vulnerable to arrest for obstructing traffic or pedestrians, or marching through the streets – something acting assistant commissioner Paul Dunstan warned would be enforced on Monday.

“That may and potentially will result in arrests,” he said.

“That can be easily avoided through consultation and working with us to enable protest activity in the right area at the right time.”

Mr Dunstan suggested protesters march along a lawful route from Hyde Park to Belmont Park, but Mr Lees knocked that back and said police were trying to “shunt us off into an irrelevant area”.

About 4000 people are expected to attend Monday’s rally and 500 police will be deployed to monitor the march.

Israel’s president was controversially invited to Australia by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese after two gunmen opened fire on a Hanukkah event at Bondi Beach, killing 15 people on December 14.

He is set to meet federal politicians as well as those impacted by the terrorist incident.

But protesters and human rights experts have called for his invitation to be rescinded, citing his culpability in Israel’s bombardment and starvation of Palestinians in Gaza.

Mr Herzog has previously said Palestinians bore collective blame for the Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023.

A United Nations Human Rights Council commission of inquiry in September found the statement might reasonably have been interpreted as inciting genocide.

Mr Herzog has denied the claim and said his comments were taken out of context.

NSW Labor backbencher Stephen Lawrence said Australia was obliged under international law to investigate Mr Herzog for genocide upon his arrival.

“It is a grave insult to the rule of law to have the president here,” he said.

Acting Prime Minister Richard Marles maintained the president would be a “welcome and honoured guest” in Australia.

“To have the president of Israel here, the equivalent of our governor-general, is really significant for Australia’s Jewish community in the aftermath of the Bondi massacre,” he said.

Greens senator Mehreen Faruqi said the invitation was “the most divisive thing possible” at a time the government has claimed to prioritise unity.

NSW Labor backbencher Sarah Kaine has said she will march over concerns about the visit, while federal backbencher Ed Husic has said he is “very uncomfortable” about the tour.

Shadow Attorney General Andrew Wallace has reacted to statements by Teals opposing President Herzog’s state visit.

He said: “The call by Teal MPs Zali Steggall and Sophie Scamps for Prime Minister Albanese to reconsider Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit is deeply concerning and must be unequivocally rejected.

This attempt to block President Herzog’s visit serves to further isolate the Jewish community at a particularly vulnerable time.

Astonishingly, some Labor figures and Greens are also opposing or expressing disquiet about the visit. In the wake of the Bondi Beach terrorist attack, this push to block a respected Jewish leader from visiting Australia to support the Jewish community is utterly appalling. It is clear that some MPs have failed to learn the tragic lessons of Bondi.”

He added: “They are contributing to further division and deepening the wounds of antisemitism, much of which today is rooted in anti-Israel hatred. Ms Steggall has described President Herzog’s visit as ‘deeply divisive and problematic’, suggesting it will likely lead to protests and harm national unity.”

Andrew Wallace pointed out that protestors fuel antisemitism.

He added: “It is disgraceful that the term ‘genocide’, originally coined to describe the Holocaust, is now being weaponised against the Jewish people, the very victims of that atrocity. Criticising a government’s policies is one thing, but the perpetuation of false, highly divisive narratives at such a vulnerable time for the Jewish community in Australia, by Australian politicians, is something else entirely.”