Israeli President Isaac Herzog received two very different receptions in Australia on Monday a warm welcome by a government determined to show solidarity with its grieving Jewish community, and mass protests by activists who consider him a war criminal.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog received two very different receptions in Australia on Monday a warm welcome by a government determined to show solidarity with its grieving Jewish community, and mass protests by activists who consider him a war criminal.
Like many nations across the world, Australia has experienced sharp divisions over Israel’s war in Gaza that have spilled into protests – and as many as 30 were planned nationwide on Monday to mark Herzog’s visit.
The largest was held outside Sydney Town Hall, where police clashed with thousands of pro-Palestinian protesters on Monday evening, using pepper spray to disperse the crowd and making a number of arrests. The Palestine Action Group issued a statement condemning the “brutal attack by the NSW (New South Wales) Police against a massive peaceful protest.”
NSW Police assistant commissioner, Peter McKenna, said in a news conference that police arrested 27 people – 10 for assaults against police and 17 for failing to comply with directions to move and related offences.
In the weeks after the December 14 attack, the government has repeatedly pushed the need for social cohesion. However, Albanese’s decision to invite Herzog – the head of state of a country accused of genocide in Gaza, a claim Israel’s government denies – has angered many Australians and even led to calls for the visitor’s arrest.
