Australian Legal Groups Urge Police Probe Into Israel’s President Ahead of Sydney Visit

Three Australian and Palestinian legal organisations have asked federal police to investigate Israeli President Isaac Herzog over alleged war crimes, escalating pressure on Canberra just weeks before Herzog is expected to visit Australia.

In a letter sent on Friday, the groups said they were “urgently alerting” the Australian Federal Police (AFP) to what they described as “serious and credible criminal allegations of incitement to genocide and advocating genocide” by Herzog during Israel’s military campaign in Gaza since October 7, 2023.

The request was submitted by the Australian Centre for International Justice, Al-Haq and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights. Their 10-page filing lays out the allegations against Herzog and argues that Australia has both international and domestic legal obligations to act.

“Where credible international findings indicate incitement to genocide and where domestic accountability has not occurred, Australia has both the legal authority and responsibility to act,” said Rawan Arraf, executive director of the Australian Centre for International Justice.

Arraf warned that allowing Herzog to enter Australia without an AFP investigation would amount to a “blatant disregard” for those obligations.

Shawan Jabarin, general director of Al-Haq, pointed to Herzog’s public remarks early in the Gaza war, including statements suggesting there were “no uninvolved civilians in Gaza”.

“He was the head of state as Israel killed 23,000 children and 1,000 babies before their first birthday,” Jabarin said. “Even the IVF clinic was bombed, destroying 4,000 human embryos and the hope of future life.”

According to The Times of Israel, Herzog is scheduled to visit Sydney on February 7 at the invitation of Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese. The trip follows last month’s mass shooting at a Jewish celebration in Bondi Beach that killed 15 people.

Albanese said in December that Herzog had been invited “to honour and remember victims of the Bondi anti-Semitic terrorist attack and provide support for Jewish Australians and the Australian Jewish community at this time”.

The planned visit has already sparked backlash at home.

Ohad Kozminsky, an executive member of the Jewish Council of Australia, told public broadcaster SBS last month that Herzog’s presence after the Bondi attack “will only inflame tensions and exacerbate division in our community”, given that he is the “head of a foreign country that has been committing genocide”.

The controversy comes amid sweeping political changes in Australia following the Bondi attack. Parliament has rushed through new gun control and hate crime legislation, measures that some civil liberties groups say go too far.

The Jewish Council of Australia said that while “some of the most contentious provisions” were removed before the laws passed earlier this week, others remain, including “enhanced ministerial powers to deport migrants based on arbitrary decision-making”.

The council said 60,000 people have now signed its petition urging Australian leaders to resist using the Bondi tragedy as political leverage.

“One month on, instead of space for mourning and healing, we are watching our grief and anger being turned into a political weapon to demonise Palestinians, Muslims, migrants and the anti-genocide protest movement,” Kozminsky said.

“Jewish safety is not strengthened by rushed political deals or parliamentary chaos,” he added. “It will be strengthened by calm, consistent measures to combat antisemitism, and by protecting all communities from racism and violence.”