Sydney police deploy pepper spray during protests against Israeli president’s visit

SYDNEY – Sydney police used pepper spray on protesters on Feb 9 as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel’s President Isaac Herzog turned violent.

The head of state’s tightly secured, four-day visit was aimed at consoling Australia’s Jewish community in the wake of the December shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

But he was met with protests in Australia’s two largest cities late on Feb 9, with a Sydney rally turning violent as police hit protesters and members of the media with pepper spray.

A journalist said they saw at least 15 protesters being arrested as members of the rally scuffled with the police.

Palestine Action Group spokesman Josh Lees said on Instagram the police had “repeatedly charged us with horses and pepper spray”.

New South Wales police declined to comment when contacted by AFP.

Crowds also gathered in the centre of Melbourne demanding an end to Israel’s “occupation” of the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had urged people to be respectful of the reason for Mr Herzog’s visit, saying he would join the President to meet the families of those killed at Bondi Beach.

The New South Wales state government invoked new powers giving police greater powers to control protests before the rally.

An attempt by protesters to overturn those powers in the state’s Supreme Court failed just before the rally began, local media said.

Not far from the protests, Mr Herzog took part in an event late on Feb 9 titled “An Evening of Light and Solidarity” for the victims of the Dec 14, 2025, killings.

‘Overcome evil’

Earlier, he paid homage to the victims under rain and grey skies as he laid a wreath outside the beachside Bondi Pavilion.

“The bonds between good people of all faiths and all nations will continue to hold strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred,” he said. “We shall overcome this evil together.”

Mr Herzog said he laid two stones from Jerusalem at Bondi Beach “in sacred memory of the victims”.

He welcomed “positive steps” by the Australian government to fight anti-Semitism, with the introduction of tougher gun and hate crime laws since the attack, the deadliest against Jews since Hamas’ assault on Israel on Oct 7, 2023.

The Israeli President also told reporters that he shared people’s frustrations about a rise in anti-Semitism all over the world.

Among the victims of the Bondi Beach shooting were an 87-year-old Holocaust survivor, a couple who confronted one of the gunmen, and 10-year-old Matilda, who was described at her funeral as a “ray of sunshine”.

Alleged Bondi Beach gunman Sajid Akram, 50, was shot and killed by police during the attack. An Indian national, he entered Australia on a visa in 1998.

His 24-year-old son, Naveed, an Australia-born citizen who remains in prison, has been charged with terrorism and 15 murders.

‘A pained community’

Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Mr Herzog’s trip.

“His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community,” said Mr Alex Ryvchin, co-CEO of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community’s peak body.

But some in the community disagreed, with the progressive Jewish Council of Australia saying he was not welcome because of his alleged role in the “ongoing destruction of Gaza”.

The UN’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry found in 2025 that Mr Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians – “an entire nation” – were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel.

Israel has “categorically” rejected the inquiry’s report, describing it as “distorted and false” and calling for the body’s abolition. AFP