The Australian government rejected on Thursday calls toarrest Israeli President Isaac Herzog during his visit to the country,scheduled to begin next Monday and last four days.
Herzog is set to visit Australia to meet members of theJewish community following an attack on December 14 that targeted a Hanukkahcelebration in Sydney, killing 15 people.
A United Nations commission concluded in 2025 that Herzoghad “incited genocide,” citing remarks in which he described Palestinians as anentire nation responsible for Hamas’ October 7, 2023 attack on Israel.
Chris Sidoti, a human rights lawyer and member of the UNIndependent International Commission of Inquiry on human rights violations inIsrael and the Palestinian territories, said Herzog “should be arrested if heattends,” calling on Australian authorities to withdraw the invitation ordetain him upon arrival.
Agence France-Presse cited Sidoti accusing Prime MinisterAnthony Albanese of making a “serious mistake” by inviting Herzog, and arguingthat the decision “should be reversed before it is too late.”
Australia’s Foreign Minister Penny Wong, however, said thegovernment extended the invitation at the request of the Jewish community andruled out any move to arrest Herzog. The visit, she added, aims to honor thevictims of the Bondi attack and to support Australia’s Jewish communityfollowing what she described as the country’s worst antisemitic terroristattack.
Pro-Palestinian activists have called for protests acrossAustralia against Herzog’s visit, including in Sydney, but Australian policerefused to authorize demonstrations, citing expanded powers granted after theBondi attack, and saying they had charged a 19-year-old man from Sydney withmaking an online death threat against a foreign head of state. Authoritiesdeclined to confirm media reports suggesting that Herzog was the target.
In October 2025, the International Criminal Court (ICC) rejectedIsrael’s appeal to suspend the arrest warrants against Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.
The ICC issued the warrants, on November 2024, over alleged war crimescommitted during Israel’s military operations in Gaza following the October 7attacks. Prosecutor Karim Khan has accused Netanyahu and Gallant of targetingcivilians and using starvation as a method of warfare—charges Israel rejects aspolitically motivated. The ruling was delivered by a three-judge pre-trialpanel, all of whom are under US sanctions imposed by President Donald Trump’sadministration.
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