CANBERRA – Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese welcomed President Isaac Herzog to Parliament House on Wednesday, as anti-Israel protests continued to rock Australia and cast a shadow over the state visit.
Albanese thanked Herzog for the “comfort” he was bringing to the country’s Jewish community – something the president said was one of the main goals of his four-day trip. The other goal, which Herzog has repeated several times in public statements, was to place Israeli-Australian ties on a stronger footing.
Albanese and Australia’s Governor-General Sam Mostyn, who welcomed Herzog with a 21-gun salute and honor guard at a formal ceremony at Government House full of pomp and circumstance, both emphasized the consoling aspect of the visit, without addressing the strained state of bilateral relations. During her meeting with Herzog, Mostyn displayed a picture of a presidential visit to Australia 40 years ago by his father, Chaim Herzog.
Speaking to the press outside Parliament House, Albanese said his meeting with Herzog would provide an opportunity “to engage on issues.” Australia recognized a Palestinian state over the summer, a move that set back Israeli-Australian ties. Standing alongside Herzog, Albanese reiterated that “we want to see Israelis and Palestinians living side-by-side in peace and security.”
So far, there has been little public response from Australian officials to Herzog’s repeated calls to bring relations between the two countries to “a new beginning.”
Albanese discusses the Australian WCK worker killed in Gaza
Instead, Albanese told Parliament shortly before greeting Herzog that he had raised the death of Melbourne-born Zomi Frankcom during their talks. Frankcom was one of seven people killed in Gaza in April 2024 while delivering aid with the World Central Kitchen organization.
“I note that if President Herzog wasn’t here, I wouldn’t have been able to raise the issue of Zomi Frankcom with him, which is what I did this morning along with a range of other government concerns,” Albanese said, seemingly seeking to justify the invitation extended to Herzog. The day before, he defended the decision in Parliament to invite Herzog, saying that a grieving Jewish community was in need of comfort and that Herzog’s visit was the right step at this time.
Wednesday’s meeting was their second of the visit, following a discussion on Tuesday in Sydney, where Albanese joined Herzog at a ceremony at the Chabad of Bondi commemorating the victims of the Bondi Beach attack.
In front of Parliament House, a few hundred protesters, including a Green party parliamentarian, demonstrated against the president’s visit, holding signs reading “Arrest Herzog.”
Herzog was scheduled to travel to Melbourne on Thursday before returning to Israel. Scattered protests have already taken place there since his arrival on Monday, including the burning of an Israeli flag. Police have been granted expanded powers to “provide the highest level of security for the visit.” Violent protests took place in Sydney on Monday that were forcefully quelled by police, who were also granted expanded powers.