Police confronted anti-Israel protesters in against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, leading national leaders to call for calm and peaceful demonstrations.
Authorities reported arresting 27 individuals, with 10 suspected of attacking police, following violent clashes on Monday evening when they attempted to disperse thousands of demonstrators assembled near Sydney’s Town Hall.
The disturbances occurred as Herzog arrived in Australia for a trip focused on showing support for the Jewish community following at a Hanukkah gathering in Bondi Beach that resulted in 15 fatalities.
During his visit, Herzog went to Bondi, where he met with grieving families and took part in . On X, he posted, “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 . The terrorists sought to instill fear in the Jewish people—and we respond with renewed Jewish pride, by choosing life and hope.”
Herzog also cautioned about during his visit, describing it as a worldwide crisis and justifying Israel’s military operations in Gaza when questioned about the demonstrations.
and Herzog’s presence sparked demonstrations across Australia, with the most significant conflict occurring in Sydney. Officials enforced limitations on protest paths and deployed pepper spray to break up crowds as tensions mounted.
Law enforcement stated that officers faced violent resistance and took action to preserve order, while demonstrators and some lawmakers charged authorities with using disproportionate force.
Speaking to , former Australian Jewish Association president David Adler condemned the violence as “a disgraceful display,” observing that Australia operates under a rule of law system and that “radical activists” disregarded a court ruling that created a protest exclusion zone, putting police in an untenable position.
Regarding Sydney police measures against the protesters, Adler noted that some community members were “rejoicing to finally see a bit of pushback from the New South Wales police, because, for almost two and a half years, there’s been a lack of law enforcement concerning incitement and antisemitism, and we’ve seen the emboldenment and dreadful incidents occurring 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 stated.
Parliament member Andrew Wallace stated, “Australians living in a democracy have the right to protest peacefully and lawfully,” Wallace told reporters, “What we witnessed last night was not peaceful, and it definitely did not follow police instructions.”
Australian officials urged restraint and cautioned against bringing foreign conflicts onto domestic streets.
A timeline assembled by the indicates that the December Bondi Beach assault followed a continuous increase in anti-Jewish threats and violence throughout Australia, including synagogue and Jewish school vandalism, arson, and public harassment since Oct. 2023. The Executive Council of Australian Jewry recorded over 1,600 anti-Jewish incidents between Oct. 2024 and Sept. 2025, after documenting more than 2,000 incidents the prior year.
Israeli officials have cited the Bondi assault as proof of escalating dangers confronting Jewish communities overseas and have faulted Australian authorities for not preventing the terrorist act.