Eleven groups, nine of them Jewish, have written to the governor-general and prime minister, urging them to rescind the invitation to Israeli President Isaac Herzog.
The groups cited Herzog’s own comments urging collective punishment of the people of Gaza and his complicity with Israeli military aggression towards civilians.
The groups argue that hosting this head of state would provoke mass protests “which would be attended by significant numbers of Jewish people” and would exacerbate antisemitism by “implicitly associating Jewish people with alleged war crimes”.
They urged Labor to remember its obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.
Jennifer Weinstein, from Jewish Advocates for Understanding Antisemitism, said: “Herzog has publicly signed his name on artillery shells used to blow apart children in Gaza. He doesn’t represent all Jewish people in Australia. Facilitating this visit does nothing to support the healing of Jewish communities in Australia, following the horrific massacre in Bondi.”
Ohad Kozminsky, from Jewish Council of Australia, said: “Herzog’s government has been committing a genocide, and it has erroneously claimed to do so in the name of all Jewish people. His proposed visit in the wake of the Bondi massacre misleadingly and dangerously ties Israel’s actions to Jewish people as such. This racist conflation is rejected by many Australian Jews and it should be rejected by our government.”
The signatories are: Jewish Council of Australia; Jews for Palestine (WA); Loud Jew Collective; Jews Against the Occupation '48; Jewish Voices of Inner Sydney; Jewish Advocates for Understanding Antisemitism; Jews for Justice; Jews for a Free Palestine; Jewish Women 4 Peace Action Ready Group; Anti-Zionism Australia; and Coalition of Women for Justice and Peace.