Israel President Isaac Herzog accuses protesters of wanting to de-legitimise Israel’s existence

Israel President Isaac Herzog accused Sydney demonstrators rallying against his visit of wanting to de-legitimise the existence of the world’s only Jewish state in the wake of the Bondi massacre.

State Labor MPs Cameron Murphy, Stephen Lawrence and Sarah Kaine declared they would join the afternoon protest march from Town Hall to State Parliament, despite their boss Premier Chris Minns on Monday morning laying a wreath at the Bondi Pavilion, 200m from the site of Australia’s worst ever terrorist attack.

Greens MPs, including Muslim senator Mehreen Faruqi, were also planning to attend, despite the protest route breaching Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon’s ban on marching protests in Sydney’s city centre and eastern suburbs, except at Hyde Park and areas to the south.

Over in the NSW Supreme Court, the Palestine Action Group, expecting 5000 protesters, lost their challenge against the State Labor government’s ban of the proposed protest route, under emergency laws enacted before Christmas.

With a heavy police presence accompanying his visit — including a sniper on a nearby roof, a police boat off the beach and a helicopter patrol - President Herzog responded to questions about the death toll in Gaza.

“These demonstrations, in most cases, what you hear and see comes to undermine and de-legitimise our right, my nation’s right, the nation which I am the head of state of, its mere existence and its contradictory to whatever was said and done by Australia,” he said in the presence of Bondi massacre survivors, their families and visiting Israeli media.

Like the aftermath of the atrocity at nearby Archer Park, Bondi’s Campbell Parade was closed to traffic with police road blocks in place on Monday morning.

Shortly before a wreath laying ceremony, a suspicious device believed to be two canisters wrapped in electrical tape, was found near the Bondi Pavilion. Police later determined the item to be of “no concern”.

President Herzog said these demonstrations were a contrast to Australia in the 1940s being among the first nations to recognise Israel at the United Nations in 1948, and described anti-Semitism as a “global emergency” in the wake of the Hamas-led October 2023 terrorist attacks that killed 1200 Israelis.

“We did not seek that war. On October 7 our nation was attacked terribly, and people were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted,” he said.

“We should all fight terror together. Terror is what undermines all the availability of peace and the notion of peace in our region. It was always the case and is always the case and, therefore, terror is unacceptable by any means.”

At a lectern under an umbrella, he declared he was there to comfort the families of the 15 people killed at Bondi’s Archer Park where a family day was being held to celebrate the first day of the Jewish Hanukkah festival.

“When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain — that is why I am here today,” he said.

“To embrace and console the bereaved families.

“Anti-Semitism here in Australia is not a Jewish problem, it is an Australian problem and a global problem.

“Over the generations, one thing has become clear — hatred that starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.

“That is why the current rise in anti-Semitism around the world is a global emergency and we must all act, fight against it.”

Asked if more could have to done to prevent such an attack, he said Israel was frustrated at rising anti-Semitism since October 7.

“These frustrations were shared by many, many of us, including myself, as I’ve seen this great surge all over the world,” he said.

“I’ve seen it in many countries, including Canada, Great Britain, the United States and Australia, all English-speaking countries and I’ve alerted way in advance as well as many others, and that is why I understand this frustration and I hope the steps that were recently taken will bring change.”

The drizzle stopped just enough for President Herzog, a former Israeli Labour leader, to lay a wreath and two stones “from the holy city of Jerusalem from the land of Israel” with his wife Michal.

“In Jewish tradition, we place stones on graves to represent endurance of memory, the weight of loss, and the unbreakable bond between the living and those we have lost,” he said.

“Fifteen innocent souls who gathered to celebrate Chanukkah, the festival of light were massacred in cold blood by two Islamist terrorists.

“In the face of this evil, we saw the very best of humanity. Suddenly, here on Bondi, surf boards became trenches and stretchers as extraordinary, ordinary people ran into the danger and saved innocent lives.”

Mr Herzog joined Mr Minns and Waverley Mayor Will Nemesh in laying wreaths on an overcast day, symbolising the bleakness of the worst terrorist attack on Australian soil, which has occurred on a sunny Sunday on December 14.

Watching on under tent were the families and survivors of a massacre on the first day of the Jewish Chanukkah festival.

Bondi massacre survivor Yvonne, who dislocated her hip diving for cover as she held her two-year-old son on December 14 near a doughnut stand said President Herzog’s visit meant a lot.

“We never actually got the doughnut, we were just chatting to a friend, she wasn’t Jewish, she was just there and that’s when the shots started,” she told reporters at the Bondi Pavilion.

“Instantly we ran. Then I sheltered at the picnic tables.”

“For us, it’s so important. It means we’re not alone. He’s come from all the way over in Israel. It really resonated with us — no matter where we are in the world, we are supported by Israel.”

Her husband David, who was several blocks away as Islamist gunmen fired shots, had a message to protesters.

“It’s a painful time and we had someone come and console us, that’s what this was. If you need to protest that, sorry you had to do that,” he said.

“This is not a political thing.”

He also had a message to protesters using the phrase “globalise the intifada”, a term associated with suicide bombings in Israel. State Greens MP Sue Higginson has previously argued the term meant “the desire for freedom - freedom from oppression”.

“An intifada is death to the Jewish people. It’s a religious war. So, it’s using religion to kill people,” David told The Nightly.

“That’s what an intifada is, you don’t get to change the definition.”