{"id":15427,"date":"2026-02-10T17:46:09","date_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:46:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/australian-pm-devastated-by-violence-at-rally-against-israel-presidents-visit\/"},"modified":"2026-02-10T17:46:09","modified_gmt":"2026-02-10T17:46:09","slug":"australian-pm-devastated-by-violence-at-rally-against-israel-presidents-visit","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/jobuzo.com\/en\/australian-pm-devastated-by-violence-at-rally-against-israel-presidents-visit\/","title":{"rendered":"Australian PM ‘devastated’ by violence at rally against Israel president’s visit"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Australia’s prime minister said Tuesday he was “devastated” by scenes of clashes at a Sydney rally against a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, but defended the police’s actions against protesters.<\/p>\n

Herzog’s tightly secured, four-day trip aims to console Australia’s Jewish community after the December shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.<\/p>\n

But chaos erupted on Monday evening in the heart of Australia’s largest city as police tried to prevent a rally from marching into an area designated off-limits.<\/p>\n

Law enforcement hit protesters and members of the media, including AFP, with pepper spray in rarely-seen violent scuffles in Sydney’s central business district.<\/p>\n

Asked about the scenes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told local radio he was “devastated” to see the violence. “These are really scenes that I think shouldn’t be taking place,” he said.<\/p>\n

“People should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march,” he added.<\/p>\n

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New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the police had been placed in “incredibly difficult circumstances”.<\/p>\n

Not far from the protests, he noted, Herzog had been taking part in an event for the victims of the December 14 killings alongside thousands of mourners.<\/p>\n

Minns said it would have been a “disaster” if protesters had been allowed to march near that event.<\/p>\n

New South Wales police have said they arrested 27 people at the rallies, including 10 for assaulting law enforcement, and have confirmed they deployed pepper spray against the crowd.<\/p>\n

But they have sparked outrage with a video circulating on social media showing Muslim men praying near Sydney’s Town Hall being pushed and shoved by the police.<\/p>\n

Local Greens lawmaker Abigail Boyd told local broadcaster ABC she had been hurt by police at the march and posted a selfie to social media wearing a neck brace.<\/p>\n

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“I didn’t know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked,” she said.<\/p>\n

Herzog’s visit is expected to last until Thursday.<\/p>\n

On Tuesday he is expected to meet with the families of victims of the Bondi attack — the deadliest against Jews since Hamas’s assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.<\/p>\n

Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog’s trip.<\/p>\n

“His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community,” said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community’s peak body.<\/p>\n

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”.<\/p>\n

The U.N.’s Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians — “an entire nation” — were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel.<\/p>\n

Israel has “categorically” rejected the inquiry’s report, describing it as “distorted and false” and calling for the body’s abolition.<\/p>\n

\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t© 2026 AFP<\/span><\/p><\/div>\n

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Australian PM ‘devastated’ by violence at rally against Israel president’s visit<\/div>\n

<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Australia’s prime minister said Tuesday he was “devastated” by scenes of clashes at a Sydney rally against a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, but defended the police’s actions against protesters. Herzog’s tightly secured, four-day trip aims to console Australia’s Jewish community after the December shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at…<\/p>\n

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