Yesterday’s memorial for Jews massacred at Bondi Beach became an anti-Israel forum as thousands of demonstrators protested the presence of Israeli President Isaac Herzog.

• Herzog placed a wreath and two stones at the site, a popular beach near Sydney, where two Islamist terrorists murdered 15 men, women and children at a December 14 celebration of Hanukkah.
• Israel’s presidency is a mostly ceremonial role. Unlike Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Herzog comes from Israel’s center-left, and his role is apolitical. For everybody in the international community who hates Netanyahu, Herzog is supposed to represent the “acceptable side of Israel’s politics.”

No empathy: Herzog’s Sydney visit had nothing to do with government policy. It was about showing support after a national tragedy. Nevertheless, thousands of Palestinian supporters protested in Sydney, as well as in Melbourne and other communities.

• They carried signs with messages such as “War criminals not welcome here” and “From the river to the sea, Herzog to the icc.”
• Several protesters scuffled with Sydney police officers, who used pepper spray against the mob. Hundreds more reportedly surrounded a Sydney police station.

The Bondi massacre was terrible, but from our Australian leadership there’s been no acknowledgement of the Palestinian people and the Gazans. Herzog has dodged all the questions about the occupation and says this visit is about Australia and Israeli relations but he is complicit.
—Jackson Elliot, Sydney protester

Australia’s protests show that the world’s animosity toward Israel has nothing to do with Israeli government policy. The mob even wants the head of a moderate ceremonial figure like Herzog. In such people’s eyes, being a war criminal isn’t about deadly and illegal actions such as firing rockets into cities, massacring families on October 7, or using human shields in Gaza—nor is it about the actual response by Israel Defense Forces in Gaza. It’s about being Israeli—and being Jewish. The anti-Israel movement hates Israel for existing—“from the river to the sea.”

Learn more in Trumpet contributor Callum Wood’s recent article “Australia’s Undercurrent of Anti-Semitism.”