Newsletter
Newsletter Support JNS

Israel’s president to visit Down Under next week

The five-day trip has drawn opposition from supporters of the Palestinians.

Members of the Australian Jewish community attend a rally in Sydney on Nov. 12, 2023. .Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images.
Members of the Australian Jewish community attend a rally in Sydney on Nov. 12, 2023. .Photo by David Gray/AFP via Getty Images.

Barring the outbreak of war with Iran, Israeli President Isaac Herzog is slated to visit Australia next week.

The five-day trip has drawn opposition from pro-Palestinian groups, with protests planned in major cities.

Herzog is expected to meet survivors and families of the victims of the Dec. 14 shooting at Bondi Beach near Sydney, in which terrorists killed 15 people and wounded 39 others.

He was first invited to visit by the leaders of the Australian Jewish community.

In the six weeks since the attack, antisemitic incidents have continued unabated in the country.

An Australian teenager was charged on Friday with issuing death threats against Herzog online.

The Israeli president will be flying commercial to Australia on a foreign carrier.

Israeli airlines do not currently offer service to Australia; the fastest flights from Tel Aviv travel via the United Arab Emirates, while Thailand is another connection option.

See more from JNS Staff
The five-day initiative aims to promote Israeli higher education as an attractive alternative for Jewish students facing rising antisemitism on Western campuses.
A senior Hamas commander targeted in Thursday’s airstrike was responsible for holding several Israeli hostages, including soldiers and civilians, the army said.
Jesse Myerson has denied Israel’s right to exist as a nation-state, defended the slogan ‘globalize the intifada,’ and criticized Jewish religious traditions.
Dan Schnur, a California-based political science lecturer, told JNS that democratic socialist candidates seem to have “a greater obstacle here than in other parts of the country.”