A growing coalition of human rights advocates, legal experts, anti-Zionist Jews and community groups want Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to cancel his invitation to Israeli President Isaac Herzog to visit Australia.
While Albanese frames Herzog’s visit as a gesture of solidarity, following the antisemitic terror attack in Bondi, many argue it is a grave moral failure.
Herzog is not a “moderate” diplomat; he is a leader of a genocidal government, responsible for the ongoing destruction of Palestinian people in Gaza and the Occupied Territories.
Herzog is a career politician, who previously led the Israeli Labor Party (HaAvoda). Today, he serves as its head of state. While he has tried to cast himself as a “unifier” and a “strategic bridge” to the West, his record tells a more compelling story.
Herzog has long championed “unilateral separation”, a plan that entrenches an apartheid-style regime. Herzog laid out a Separation Plan in 2016; it involved a massive barrier to “separate from as many Palestinians as possible, as quickly as possible”.
His vision focused on creating bantustans — isolated Palestinian archipelagoes under Israeli military control — while ensuring that settlement blocs remain under Israel’s control.
Since the October 7, 2023, Herzog’s rhetoric has shifted from cold political calculation to what the International Court of Justice (ICJ) describes as genocidal incitement.
Herzog made a public statement — that has since become a keystone of the South African case to the ICJ — in which he asserted that an “entire nation” bore responsibility for Israel’s “defence”. He said: “It’s absolutely not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true.”
Palestinian rights groups, including the Australia Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN) and Australians for Humanity, argue that his language legitimises Israel’s collective punishment and its mass killing of civilians.
The UN Commission of Inquiry has similarly found that Herzog’s rhetoric “incited the commission of genocide”. This is not an academic debate; images of Herzog signing artillery shells destined for Gaza have circulated globally, and rights groups say this proves he is an active participant in war crimes.
Honoring victims?
Labor argues that Herzog has been invited to honor and remember victims of the Bondi attack. However, many argue that such a tragic episode should not be weaponised — in this case for a foreign leader accused of mass violence in Gaza.
“The massacre at Bondi requires a nation coming together, not a visit from a man who has approved the destruction of a people,” Australians for Humanity said on January 14.
Anti-Zionist Jewish organisations, including Jews against the Occupation ‘48 and the Loud Jewish Collective, have also called on Labor to rescind the invitation. They argue that hosting Herzog risks exacerbating antisemitism, by implicitly associating all Jewish Australians with the genocidal actions of a government that includes indicted war criminals.
The Herzog invitation was issued as the humanitarian crisis in Gaza has reached catastrophic levels. Despite the alleged ceasefire, more than 400 Palestinians have been killed since the latest “truce” and Israel still occupies more than 50% of Gaza. Food, medical supplies and humanitarian aid is still being blocked from Gaza.
Meanwhile, Israel continues to encourage settlers in the West Bank — an illegal act — which is, of course, sparking violence. All this is eroding the possibility of a Palestinian state — which Labor declared it supports despite Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu declaring he not support.
After Australia announced its support, Herzog reacted saying: “These declarations, by Australia and other countries, are a reward for terror, a prize for the enemies of freedom, liberty, and democracy. This is a grave and dangerous mistake, which will not help a single Palestinian and sadly will not bring back a single hostage.”
Herzog’s visit will help Israel’s claim to be a vibrant democracy. +972 Magazine is among many which have criticised Herzog for presides over a system where 5 million Palestinians living in the West Bank, East Jerusalem and Gaza are not only denied the right to vote, but every aspect of their lives is controlled.
APAN and other pro-Palestine groups are also concerned that the government may use its newly-minted hate speech laws to criminalise legitimate protests against Herzog.
To shield a visiting foreign leader from accountability by suppressing the democratic right to dissent erodes our right to political communication — which we must resist.
Australia’s legal and ethical obligations under the Genocide Convention and to the ICJ, means that Labor must rescind Herzog’s invitation. If it does not, it must arrest him.
[Olivia Jurincic is a Palestine activist. National protests are being organised to coincide with Herzog's visit. Check your local Palestine action group.]