Israel’s President Herzog concludes Australia visit marred by death threats & violent anti-Israel protests

Israeli President Isaac Herzog completed his four-day visit to Australia and its grieving Jewish community on Thursday, which was accompanied by raucous and partly violent anti-Israel protests.

Herzog visited Australia following an invitation from the local Jewish community and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in the wake of the terror shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people last December.

In Melbourne, the last station on his trip, some 5,000 people, many reportedly wearing keffiyeh scarves and waving Palestinian flags, gathered to demonstrate against Herzog on Thursday.

Earlier, a graffiti calling for his death was found at a nearby Melbourne University campus. It read, “Death to Herzog + Israel + Oz,” with the latter referring to Australia, and included the inverted triangle that has become a widespread symbol for Hamas terror.

At Chabad of Bondi in Sydney, we felt deep pain, as well as tremendous faith and hope.

Together with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese @AlboMP and the community’s leader, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, bereaved families, and members of the Jewish community, we united in memory of the 15… pic.twitter.com/OnUk95pk8u

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) February 10, 2026

On Monday, protests had turned violent in Sydney, leading to 27 arrests as police used tear gas and pepper spray to disperse the crowd.

Speaking to television network Channel Seven, Herzog said there was “frightening and worrying” antisemitism in the country, “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 claim that Israel, and Herzog specifically, was involved in an alleged “genocide” of Palestinians in Gaza was a “lie,” he added.

🇮🇱🇦🇺 pic.twitter.com/lvwixywWMI

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) February 10, 2026

In his final speech in Melbourne on Thursday, Herzog noted it was “obscure and odd that we need to have so many incredible police officers protecting us for the inherent right of us to gather here as proud Jews, to host the President of the only Jewish state on Earth without any harassment and disturbance.”

“I say to all those protesters outside, go protest in front of the Iranian embassy or whichever embassy they have. For heaven's sake, they killed and butchered around fifty thousand, tens of thousands of their own people, operating a whole machine of an empire of evil against us,” he said.

“We depart having been reminded, time and time again, that Israel has been the focal point of your prayers, your love, and your longing, like millions of Jews around the world through the generations.”

I had a productive meeting with Prime Minister @AlboMP today in Canberra and thank him for his warm reception.

We discussed a range of issues of mutual importance: support for the Australian Jewish community after the Bondi attack, combating antisemitism, and international… pic.twitter.com/GX0Udv133b

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) February 11, 2026

Herzog had attended a memorial service at Bondi Beach with Prime Minister Albanese on Tuesday before meeting with him privately on Wednesday.

“The terrorists sought to instill fear in the Jewish people – we will respond with renewed Jewish pride. They sought to divide people with religious hate – we will respond with solidarity between all people of moral conscience, of all faiths,” Herzog vowed at the memorial.

Herzog’s meeting with Albanese, who had been strongly criticized by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for not doing enough to combat rampant antisemitism in Australia, was reportedly held in a good atmosphere.

An absolute honor for the Embassy of Israel to host President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog for a ceremonial Olive Tree planting, exactly 40 years after his late parents, President Chaim Herzog and Mrs. Aura Herzog, marked their historic state visit.

This is… pic.twitter.com/kduIJvbAFw

— Israel in Australia (@IsraelinOZ) February 11, 2026

The leaders “discussed the importance of the President’s visit to Australia to comfort and strengthen the Australian Jewish community in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack” as well as “a range of other issues, including combating antisemitism, bilateral relations between Israel and Australia, international efforts to bring about peace and security in Israel, Gaza, and the Middle East, including humanitarian efforts for the Palestinian people, and the global threats posed by the Iranian regime,” according to an official readout.

“This visit has been very emotional. When one Jew is hurt anywhere around the world, we in Israel ache and our hearts miss a beat. That is why it was so important to visit the community to express our condolences and strengthen the community,” Herzog said after the meeting.

“I think the relations between us do not depend only on the issue of Israel and the Palestinians and the conflict, but have a much broader base, and we should, together, make sure that they're uplifted in new directions.”