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In Sydney, tensions escalated as police confronted anti-Israel protesters who had gathered in opposition to Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia. The clashes prompted national leaders to appeal for calm and emphasize the need for peaceful demonstrations.
Authorities reported that 27 individuals were detained, with 10 facing allegations of assaulting police officers. The violence erupted on Monday evening as law enforcement attempted to disperse thousands of demonstrators assembled near Sydney’s Town Hall.
The protests coincided with Herzog’s arrival in Australia, where his visit primarily focused on expressing solidarity with the Jewish community following the tragic terror attack at a Hanukkah event in Bondi Beach on December 14, which resulted in 15 fatalities.
During a protest on February 9, 2026, against Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit, police detained a demonstrator in Sydney, Australia. (Izhar Khan/Getty Images)
During his trip, Herzog visited Bondi, where he met with grieving families and attended memorials for the victims. In a message shared on platform X, Herzog stated, “Alongside Prime Minister Anthony Albanese, community leader Rabbi Yehoram Ulman, bereaved families, and members of the Jewish community, we stood united in remembrance of the 15 victims of the Bondi terror attacks. The terrorists aimed to instill fear among the Jewish people, but we respond with renewed Jewish pride, 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.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese attend a service to meet with victims of the Bondi shooting attack and members of the community, at the Chabad of Bondi, in Sydney, Australia, Feb. 10, 2026. (Wolter Peeters /Pool via Reuters)
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.
Police face off with anti-Israel protesters during a demonstration against the visit of Israel’s President Isaac Herzog on Feb. 9, 2026 in Sydney, Australia. (Izhar Khan/Getty Images)
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.
Mourners place flowers at a memorial at Bondi Beach in Sydney, Australia Dec. 15, 2025. Australia is in mourning after gunmen opened fire on Bondi Beach, an attack designed to target the Jewish community. (AAP/Bianca De Marchi via Reuters)
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.