Israeli President Herzog Honors Victims of Bondi Attack Amid Controversial Visit

Mon Feb 09 2026 10:24:23 GMT+0200 (Eastern European Standard Time)

Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia is marked by a wreath-laying ceremony at Bondi Beach, honoring the victims of a tragic shooting during a Jewish festival, stirring both support and protests.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog laid a wreath at Bondi Beach, where 15 people were killed in a shooting during a Hanukkah celebration. His visit has sparked mixed reactions, with some Jewish leaders supporting his presence as a gesture of solidarity, while others oppose it due to allegations of incitement to genocide. The visit, which includes meetings with Australian Prime Minister Albanese and is accompanied by tight security, is expected to face significant protests.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog has laid a wreath and two stones from Jerusalem at Bondi Beach, the site of a shooting that targeted a Jewish festival in December, at the start of a controversial visit.

When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain, he said, adding he was there to embrace and console the bereaved families.

Security has been tight for the four-day visit during which he will also travel to Canberra and Melbourne and meet Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

Senior Jewish leaders have said the trip will comfort a grieving community, but others have said he should not have been invited due to allegations he has incited genocide in Gaza.

The president was invited by Albanese after the shooting at Bondi, in which 15 people were killed, including a 10-year-old girl, at an event celebrating Hanukkah.

The prime minister has said the visit will contribute to social cohesion and a greater sense of unity after the Bondi attack but the visit is expected to be met with nationwide protests, including one in central Sydney on Monday evening.

Organisers have said 5,000 people will attend the protest, which is expected to take place despite restrictions on protests brought in by the New South Wales government after the Bondi attack.

The Palestine Action Group was on Monday also challenging a decision by the state government to invoke rarely used major event powers during Herzog's visit, which give police additional powers, including the ability to close specific locations, the right to search people and the imposing of fines of up to $5,500 (£2,839, US$3,862) for non-compliance.

Alex Ryvchin, co-chair executive of Australia's peak Jewish body, the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, said Herzog's visit was warmly welcomed: For the victim families and for the survivors of the Bondi attack, it means a great deal. His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community and we hope will lead to a much-needed recalibration of bilateral relations between two historic allies.

However, other groups, including the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA), have said Herzog should not have been invited. JCA executive officer Sarah Schwartz stated, 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.

Amid increasing tensions, Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong said she understood the deep feelings about this visit but urged critics to consider the context: We have the Australian Jewish community who have been targeted in an overtly antisemitic terrorist attack. We have had 15 Australians die, we have families mourning, and this was a request from the Jewish community for President Herzog to visit.

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