Israel's president visits Sydney's Bondi Beach massacre site and meets victims' families

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Israel President Isaac Herzog started a state visit Monday aimed at consoling grieving Australian Jews and improving bilateral relations by laying a wreath and stones at the site of an antisemitic attack in Sydney that left 15 dead.

Herzog met victims’ families and survivors of the attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on Dec. 14. Only one of the two alleged gunmen survived the following gunbattle with police. Naveed Akram has been charged with committing a terrorist act, murdering 15 people and wounding another 40 in Australia's worst mass shooting in 29 years.

Herzog laid the wreath and two stones he had brought from Jerusalem at rain-swept Bondi Pavillion near the site of the massacre. The pavilion became on impromptu memorial in the days after the tragedy as thousands of bunches of flowers and cards were placed there.

He said the stones would remain at Bondi in memory of the victims and as a reminder that good people of all faiths and nations “will continue to hold strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred, and that we shall overcome this evil together.”

“We were shaken to our core when we first heard about the Bondi Beach attack. Our heart missed a beat, like all Israelis and all Jews. And I’m here to express solidarity, friendship, and love,” Herzog told reporters.

“And I also believe that this is an opportunity to upgrade the relations between Israel and Australia because we are two democracies that share values together and we are confronting the roots of evil from all over the world. And we should do so together,” he added.

The visit to Bondi within hours of the president landing in Sydney with his wife Michal Herzog came with tight security. Police snipers were visible posted on Bondi roof tops.

Herzog will also visit Melbourne and the national capital Canberra before he returns to Israel on Thursday. Sydney and Melbourne are Australia’s largest cities and home to 85% of the nation’s Jewish population.

Protests are planned later Monday over how Israel has waged war in Gaza and treated Gaza's civilian population.

Mainstream Jewish groups have welcomed the visit of Herzog, a former leader of the centrist Labor Party who now plays a largely ceremonial role.

Jewish leaders initiated the invitation extended by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, Australia’s equivalent of Israel’s president, at Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s request.

Albanese and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have been openly hostile toward each other since the Australian announced six months ago that his government would recognize a Palestinian state.

On Monday, Herzog said he welcomed the “positive steps” the Australian government had taken to tackle antisemitism since the Bondi attack, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.

The Australian Parliament last month rushed through legislation that lowers the threshold requirements for groups to be banned for hate speech.

The government also announced its highest form of public inquiry, a royal commission, would investigate the nature, prevalence and drivers of antisemitism generally as well as the circumstances of the Bondi shooting.

Herzog said he shared victims’ families’ frustrations that more had not been done to prevent such an attack on Australia's Jewish community.

“These frustrations were shared by many, many of us, including myself,” Herzog said.

“I’ve seen this wave surge all over the world, and I’ve seen it in many countries, including Canada, Great Britain, the United States, and Australia -- all English-speaking countries,” Herzog added.

In response to the Bondi shooting being declared a terrorist attack, the New South Wales state parliament rushed through legislation increasing police powers to arrest protesters.

Police can restrict protests for two weeks at a time for up to 90 days following a declared terrorist attack. Police last week continued the restrictions for another two weeks in an effort to contain civil discord in Sydney during Herzog’s visit.

Demonstrators risk arrest if they join a protest march late Monday organized by the Palestine Action Group from Sydney Town Hall to New South Wales Parliament.

On Monday, Herzog said protests targeting him were mostly attempts to “undermine and delegitimize” Israel’s right to exist.