Albanese defends Isaac Herzog visit as MP joins calls to rescind invitation
Anthony Albanese has defended the federal government’s invitation for Israeli president Isaac Herzog to visit Australia in February, after another federal MP joined calls to cancel the visit in the wake of the December Bondi Hanukah shooting that left 15 people dead. Herzog’s spokesperson said he would travel between 8 and 12 February and visit Jewish communities.
His arrival will be met by a “major security response” in Sydney and planned protests nationwide from pro‑Palestinian groups; the Palestine Action Group has announced a “national day of protest” and will march in Sydney at Town Hall. Labor’s internal Friends of Palestine group has called on the government to rescind Herzog’s invitation, a position echoed by independent MP Sophie Scamps, who said the visit “risks igniting further division” and that “the priority ought to be the safety and security of the Jewish community.” Scamps pointed to a United Nations commission of inquiry’s September 2025 conclusion that Israel had committed genocide and that Herzog, Benjamin Netanyahu and Yoav Gallant “incited the commission of genocide.” Israel’s foreign ministry has called that report “distorted and false”.
The coverage noted Gaza’s health ministry said the Palestinian death toll had surpassed 70,000 in November, after 1,200 Israelis were killed in the Hamas attack of 7 October 2023, and that Israeli forces have killed at least 425 Palestinians in Gaza since the current ceasefire agreement took effect.
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