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Isaac Herzog is about to arrive in Australia. As president of Israel for the duration of the genocide in Gaza, Herzog bears responsibility for the deaths of more than 71,000 Gazans, the forced displacement of more than 2 million people and a massive escalation in settler violence in the West Bank.
In a just world, the moment Herzog stepped onto the tarmac, he would be detained and face prosecution for war crimes committed under his watch. Instead, he will be welcomed by our political leaders with open arms.
Throughout the genocide, Herzog has consistently justified Israel’s targeting of civilians. In October 2023, he declared: “It’s an entire nation out there that is responsible [for the 7 October attack on Israel]. It’s not true this rhetoric about civilians not aware, not involved. It’s absolutely not true ... And we will fight until we break their backbone”. Two months later, he was photographed signing bombs set to be dropped on Gaza.
Herzog’s claim that “there are no uninvolved in Gaza” was a slogan taken up by Israeli soldiers. It was a rallying cry and a justification for targeted executions of aid workers, journalists and children.
Statements made by Herzog were included as evidence in the suit filed by South Africa with the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of genocide. In September last year, a UN commission of inquiry found Herzog, along with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, guilty of inciting genocide.
Bigotry has been a feature of Herzog’s political career. In 2016, he reportedly told a meeting of activists that he didn’t want his party to be seen as a bunch of “Arab lovers”, and his election campaign of that year accused Netanyahu of not being harsh enough towards Palestinians. He boasted about being a veteran of the Unit 8200 “Israeli Big Brother” spy agency known for its mass surveillance and blackmail of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.
In 2018, Herzog parroted the line of the most unhinged Jewish extremists when he said on national television that Jewish people in the US being “married or coupled with non-Jewish partners” was “an actual plague” requiring “a campaign, a solution” to combat.
Nothing can justify the Albanese government extending an invitation for Herzog to visit Australia. The Israeli president is coming to cynically exploit the tragedy at Bondi to rehabilitate public support for the apartheid, ethno-supremacist regime in Israel.
But the past two years of ongoing genocide against the Palestinians cannot be swept under the rug so easily. A coalition, including a number of Jewish activist organisations, is planning nationwide protests for Herzog’s arrival.
Join us to send a message loud and clear that war criminals are not welcome here.
Shovan Bhattarai is the Sydney convener of Students for Palestine.
