Antisemitism in Australia is “frightening” but most people want good relations, Israel’s President Isaac Herzog said on Thursday as he wrapped up a four-day visit and was met by protests in the city of Melbourne.
Herzog’s tightly policed visit to Australia this week was meant to offer consolation to the country’s Jewish community following the mass shooting on Bondi Beach that killed 15 people in December.
However, it sparked demonstrations in major cities, including in Sydney, where police used pepper spray on protesters and members of the media, including an AFP photographer, during scuffles in the central business district on Monday night.
Herzog told Channel Seven’s Sunrise ahead of his Melbourne stop that a “wave” of anti-Jewish hatred in Australia had culminated in the December 14 killings at Bondi.
“It is frightening and worrying,” he said.
“But there’s also a silent majority of Australians who seek peace, who respect the Jewish community and, of course, want a dialogue with Israel.”
The Israeli head of state said he had brought a “message of goodwill to the people of Australia”.
“I hope there will be a change. I hope things will relax,” he said.
Herzog attended a Jewish community event after a meeting with Victoria’s governor at Melbourne’s Government House.
Protesters waving Palestinian flags and chanting slogans squared off with police outside the event.
More are expected to turn out later at around 5 pm (0600 GMT) on Thursday.
Herzog told the audience at the community event: “We came here to be with you, to look you in the eye, to embrace and remember.”
He also said demonstrators outside should instead “go protest in front of the Iranian embassy”.
The Australian government accused Iran last year of orchestrating a recent wave of antisemitic attacks and expelled Tehran’s ambassador.
Canberra, citing intelligence findings, accused Tehran of directing the torching of a kosher cafe in the Sydney suburb of Bondi in October 2024 and a major arson attack on the Adass Israel Synagogue in Melbourne in December 2024.
Ahead of his arrival, national broadcaster ABC reported that a building at Melbourne University had been graffiti-ed with the phrase: “Death to Herzog”.
Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog’s trip.
“His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community,” said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community’s peak body.
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 “ongoing destruction of Gaza”.
The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians -- “an entire nation” -- were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023.
Israel has “categorically” rejected the inquiry’s report, describing it as “distorted and false” and has called for the body’s abolition.
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