12.02pm Herzog addresses protesters ahead of rally By Angus Thomson
The Israeli president was asked if he had a message for the pro-Palestinian supporters rallying against his visit today.
“I have come here in goodwill and in a message that people of Australia – Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old,” he said.
Israel’s President Isaac Herzog, right, and his wife Michal Herzog, second right, visit the Bondi Pavilion public memorial on Monday morning. AP Herzog said the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” his nation’s “mere existence”.
“We did not seek that war October 7,” he said.
“People were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted. We have here bereaved Israeli families who came from … Kibbutz Nir Oz and from the war in order to express their condolences here at Bondi.”
11.56am Herzog issues call to fight against antisemitism By Angus Thomson
Herzog said he is in Australia to embrace and console the victims’ families and to address antisemitism here and abroad.
“When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain,” he said.
“Antisemitism here in Australia is not a Jewish problem – it is an Australian problem and a global problem. Over the generations, one thing has become clear – hatred that starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.
“This is why the current rise in antisemitism around the world is a global emergency, and we must all act to fight against it.”
11.53am Herzog pays tribute to 15 killed at Bondi By Angus Thomson
Israeli President Isaac Herzog is now making a public statement at the Bondi Pavilion public memorial.
“This very beach, beloved by the Australian people, and symbolic of all that’s great about this beautiful nation, became the scene of the deadliest terror attack in Australia’s history,” he said.
“Fifteen innocent souls who gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Light, were massacred in cold blood [by] Islamic terrorists.”
Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at Bondi. Nine Herzog paid tribute to the youngest victim – “sweet Matilda” – who was 10 years old. So too 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, who survived extermination of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust “only to be murdered for being a Jew on the beaches of Sydney, Australi
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