Violence erupts as anti-Israel protesters target president's Australia visit weeks after Bondi Beach massacre

Police clashed with anti-Israel demonstrators in Sydney during protests against Israeli President Isaac Herzog's visit to Australia, prompting national leaders to urge calm and call for demonstrations to remain peaceful. 

Police said 27 people were arrested, including 10 for allegedly assaulting officers, after violence broke out Monday evening when authorities moved to clear thousands of protesters gathered near Sydney's Town Hall.

The unrest unfolded as Herzog arrived in Australia for a visit centered on solidarity with the Jewish community after the Dec. 14 terror attack at a Hanukkah event in Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.

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Herzog traveled to Bondi during the trip, where he met bereaved families and participated in memorial events honoring the victims. In a post on X, he wrote, "Together with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and the community's leader, Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, bereaved families, and members of the Jewish community, we united in memory of the 15 victims of the Bondi terror attacks. The terrorists sought to instill fear in the Jewish people-and we respond with renewed Jewish pride, by choosing life and hope."

Herzog also warned of rising antisemitism during the visit, calling it a global emergency and defending Israel's actions in Gaza when asked about the protests.

Demonstrations opposing Israel's war in Gaza and Herzog's presence erupted across Australia, with the largest confrontation unfolding in Sydney. Authorities imposed restrictions on protest routes and used pepper spray to disperse crowds after tensions escalated.

Police said officers were met with violence and acted to maintain order, while protesters and some politicians accused authorities of excessive force.

Talking to Sky News Australia, former Australian Jewish Association president David Adler called the violence "a disgraceful display," noting that Australia has a system of law and order and that a court decision establishing an exclusion zone for the protests was ignored by the "radical activists," which "left the police with an impossible situation."

Commenting on Sydney police actions against the agitators, Adler said there was some "rejoicing in our community to finally see a bit of pushback from the New South Wales police, because, for two years and a half, almost, there's been a lack of law enforcement when it comes to the incitement, the antisemitism and we've seen the emboldenment and the dreadful incidents which have occurred right across the country culminating (on Dec. 14) with the massacre at Bondi Beach. So maybe we've seen a little bit of a flicker of pushback in law enforcement, which we certainly welcome," he said.

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Andrew Wallace, a member of parliament said, "Australians who live in a democracy have a right to protest peacefully and lawfully," Wallace told Sky News, "What we saw last night was not peaceful, and it certainly was not in accordance with directions given by police."

Australian leaders called for restraint and warned against importing overseas conflict into domestic streets.

A timeline compiled by the American Jewish Committee notes that the December Bondi Beach attack came after a sustained rise in anti-Jewish threats and violence across Australia, including vandalism of synagogues and Jewish schools, arson attacks and public harassment since Oct. 2023. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry documented more than 1,600 anti-Jewish incidents between Oct. 2024 and Sept. 2025, following more than 2,000 incidents the previous year.

Israeli leaders have pointed to the Bondi attack as evidence of growing risks facing Jewish communities abroad and have criticized Australian authorities for failing to prevent the terrorist attack.