Police have reportedly used pepper spray and tear gas as thousands of people held protests in Australia over the visit of Israeli president Isaac Herzog.
Mr Herzog is in the country this week after an invitation from Australian prime minister Anthony Albanese in the aftermath of the shooting at a Hanukkah event at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in December that killed at least 15 people.
But some people have criticised the trip, accusing Mr Herzog of being “complicit” in the large number of civilian deaths in Gaza and angry at how Israel has waged the war against the militant group Hamas.
In Sydney, thousands gathered in a square, listening to speeches and shouting pro-Palestine slogans.
Police used pepper spray and tear gas to push back groups of people who were trying to breach the line and several arrests were made, Reuters news agency reported.
Protests were also held in Melbourne, where Mr Herzog is due to visit later this week.
Jackson Elliott, a 30-year-old protester from Sydney, told Reuters: “The Bondi massacre was terrible but from our Australian leadership there’s been no acknowledgment of the Palestinian people and the Gazans.
“Herzog has dodged all the questions about the occupation and says this visit is about Australia and Israeli relations but he is complicit.”
The Palestine Action Group, which organised the Sydney protest, had unsuccessfully mounted a legal challenge in a court on Monday over restrictions placed on the demonstration.
Authorities in Sydney had been authorised to use rarely invoked powers during the visit, including the ability to separate and move crowds and restrict their entry to certain areas.
The Jewish Council of Australia, a vocal critic of the Israeli government, released an open letter on Monday signed by over 1,000 Jewish Australian academics and community leaders, urging Mr Albanese to rescind Mr Herzog’s invitation.
Other Jewish groups have welcomed the visit of Mr Herzog, saying it will “lift the spirits of a pained community”.
At the beginning of his visit, Mr Herzog met the families of victims and survivors of the attack on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach on 14 December.
At the site, he said: “This was also an attack on all Australians.
“They attacked the values that our democracies treasure, the sanctity of human life, the freedom of religion, tolerance, dignity and respect.”
He also laid a wreath and two stones he had brought from Jerusalem.
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Along with his visits to Sydney and Melbourne, Mr Herzog is also due to arrive in the capital Canberra before he returns to Israel on Thursday.
