Herzog, Albanese pledge to reset Israel–Australia ties

Israeli President Isaac Herzog held what he described as a “productive meeting” with Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese in Canberra on Wednesday, during his official diplomatic visit to Australia.

Herzog thanked Albanese “for his warm reception” in an X post following their meeting.

“We discussed a range of issues of mutual importance: support for the Australian Jewish community after the Bondi attack, combating antisemitism, and international efforts to promote peace and security in the Middle East,” Herzog wrote, referring to the deadly shooting at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. “We also spoke about opportunities to take relations between Israel and Australia in a new direction,” he added.

Albanese—who has previously faced criticism from Jerusalem and Australia’s Jewish community for not taking stronger action against rising antisemitism—welcomed Herzog at Parliament House in Canberra after the two leaders flew together from Sydney, where they had attended a memorial service for the victims of the Bondi Beach terror attack on Tuesday.

The prime minister thanked Herzog “for the comfort and solidarity shown to the Australian Jewish community, which continues to grieve this loss as a result of the antisemitic terror attack of Dec. 14.”

Fifteen people were killed and dozens wounded in the Bondi shooting, carried out by a father and son inspired by Islamic State ideology.

Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, head of Australia’s Liberal Party, also met with Herzog at Parliament House, saying she had discussed with the Israeli president “how we can work together to strengthen our alliance,” according to Australia’s ABC News. “This visit provides a constructive platform to rebuild trust and deepen engagement,” she said.

Herzog was also hosted by the Speaker of the Australian House of Representatives, Milton Dick. The Israeli president said that in both parliamentary meetings, “we addressed the importance of combating antisemitism in Australia and around the world, as well as opportunities to strengthen ties between our two nations.”

The public broadcaster noted that Herzog was not invited to address Parliament and that anti-Israel protests have continued during his four-day visit to Australia. Activists have accused Herzog of inciting genocide in Gaza—an allegation he vehemently denies and which Jerusalem has characterized as an antisemitic blood libel against the Jewish state. Israel’s president, a largely ceremonial and apolitical position, is not involved in wartime decision-making.

Herzog’s Canberra stop on Wednesday earlier included a meeting with Australia’s governor-general, Sam Mostyn.

“During our meeting, we spoke at length about the importance of the fight against antisemitism in the aftermath of the Bondi terror attack,” Herzog wrote in an X post. “We also discussed ways to reinvigorate relations between Israel and Australia in a wide range of fields, including technology, science, agriculture and tourism.”

Herzog and his wife, Michal Herzog, also participated in a ceremonial olive tree planting at the Embassy of Israel in the Australian capital on Wednesday.

“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,” the embassy said. “This is diplomacy rooted in history.”

“The terrorists sought to instill fear in the Jewish people—we will respond with renewed Jewish pride,” Herzog said at Tuesday’s Bondi memorial, held at the Chabad of Bondi synagogue. “They sought to divide people with religious hate—we will respond with solidarity between all people of moral conscience, of all faiths.”

Herzog added: “What we saw in Bondi, the blood-curdling act of blind hatred, hatred of Jews, hatred of Australian values, simply has no place in this country, or anywhere for that matter.”

The event was hosted by Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, whose son in law was killed in the attack.

Herzog Australia ad sparks outcry over false signatories

A full-page newspaper advertisement opposing Herzog’s visit to Australia has drawn sharp criticism after several people said their names appeared in it without consent, and organizers acknowledged false and offensive entries among the signatories, according to an online news report published on Monday by the Combat Antisemitism Movement.

The ad, funded by the progressive Jewish Council of Australia, ran Monday in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age under the headline “Jews say no! Over 1,000 Jews have said no to Herzog,” and claimed that welcoming “an alleged war criminal” after the Bondi massacre “betrays Jewish communities, multicultural Australia, and everyone who stands for Palestinian human rights and international law.”

Several individuals listed in the ad, including David Slade, managing director of Slade Pharmacies and president of United Israel Appeal Victoria, publicly stated they had never signed or authorized the use of their names, with Slade calling the inclusion a “gross ethical failure” and reaffirming his support for Herzog’s visit.

Other Australians likewise reported that their names appeared without permission, while some entries were apparently fictitious or vulgar, including one transliterated Hebrew obscenity and others resembling fictional characters, further undermining the list’s credibility.

Despite the ad’s claim of more than 1,000 Jewish signatories, the published list contained far fewer names and, even if accurate, would represent only a small fraction of Australia’s Jewish population, estimated at 110,000 to 120,000. The underlying petition also allowed non-Jews to sign as “non-Jewish allies,” casting doubt on the ad’s presentation of the campaign as speaking in the name of “the Jews.”

Executive Council of Australian Jewry CEO Peter Wertheim described the Jewish Council of Australia as an “outlier” and said efforts to portray widespread Jewish opposition to Israel elevate “a micro opinion within the Jewish community” to something it is not, noting that support for Israel’s right to exist and live in peace and security is “near unanimous.”

A 2023 Monash University survey similarly found strong support for Israel among Australian Jews, including robust personal and communal ties to the Jewish state.

Jewish leaders also faulted the decision by the two newspapers to publish the ads without verifying consent or accuracy, saying the outlets amplified a fringe campaign built on disputed and misleading claims while sidelining representative Jewish institutions.

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