Israeli President Isaac Herzog will soon be invited to pay a state visit to Australia, in the aftermath of the Dec. 14 mass shooting at Sydney’s Bondi Beach, Herzog’s office said on Tuesday.
“President Herzog was invited to visit Australia by the Australian government and the Jewish community,” according to the statement.
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese “advised President Herzog that, upon the recommendation of the Australian government and in accordance with protocol, the Governor-General of Australia will issue an invitation to President Herzog to visit Australia as soon as possible,” it continued.
Herzog said that he would accept the invitation and mentioned that the President of the Zionist Federation of Australia had also sent him an official invitation, according to the statement.
Albanese said he felt “profound shock and dismay” over the terror attack, which an alleged jihadist is accused of carrying out with his father. The son survived exchanges of fire with the police, though he sustained serious injuries. His father, who was born in Pakistan, was killed. Forty people were wounded in the attack, the deadliest antisemitic incident in Australia’s history.
Herzog expressed his “deep horror and shock over the catastrophic terror attack at the Jewish community Chanukah event on Bondi Beach,” Herzog’s office said, adding that he conveyed his “profound condolences to the families of the victims and his wishes for a speedy recovery for all those injured.”
Israel’s relations with Australia, once a close ally of the Jewish state, have deteriorated under Albanese, a Labor Party politician who recognized Palestinian statehood in September, along with the United Kingdom, Canada and New Zealand. Australia has changed how it votes on anti-Israel resolutions and the United Nations, supporting language it had opposed under previous governments.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused Albanese of ignoring his warnings on antisemitism, saying “the writing was on the wall,” and imploring him to “wake up.”
In an interview with Sky News Australia last week, he said that the Bondi terror attack could have been prevented. He urged Albanese to stop the anti-Israel marches in Australia, act on intelligence and crack down on radical Islamist cells.
“It was bound to reach these tragic outcomes, just as I warned Prime Minister Albanese,” said Netanyahu.
