This week’s historic visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog came at a moment of immense significance for the country’s Jewish community, still grieving after the massacre of 15 people on the shores of the iconic Bondi Beach.
It also, however, developed into a split-screen moment for the nation’s character, forcing Australians to confront what kind of society we want to be and whether our commitment to tolerance and the rule of law will endure.
On the one hand, President Herzog arrived in Australia not as a partisan politician, but as the Head of State of an allied nation, at the invitation of our Governor-General and Prime Minister.
He came, first and foremost, to show compassion, solidarity and to embrace Australia’s Jewish community in the aftermath of December’s Bondi terror attack, the worst act of terror on our soil, while restarting and reaffirming the special bonds between our two proud democracies.
On the other hand, at Sydney’s Town Hall, and in defiance of a Supreme Court order, a salivating mob gathered to chant “Globalise the Intifada”.
Have they learnt nothing from Bondi?
“Globalise the Intifada” is not a cry for peace. It is not a slogan for coexistence or the two-state solution, notwithstanding how they cloak it. It is an unmistakable call to violence, pure and simple. Bondi is exactly what happens when you globalise the intifada. You end up with a ten-year-old girl and a Holocaust survivor murdered, alongside thirteen other innocent souls whose lives were stolen in an instant.
For over two years, since the October 7 attacks by Hamas, we have repeatedly warned of the toxic atmosphere of vicious antisemitism that has been allowed to fester, almost unchecked. The relentless vilification of Israel and anyone who supports the Jewish state’s right to exist and defend itself, has fueled a climate in which antisemitism and harassment of Jews has surged to unprecedented levels, culminating in the massacre on Bondi.
Those now claiming that President Herzog’s visit was “divisive” are, in fact, the same fringe minority who have helped cultivate this very division. They are the ones who have marched week after week, abused Jewish Australians in our streets, synagogues and schools, and normalised slogans that glorify violence.
Yes, freedom of speech is the lifeblood of any democracy. But it is not an open licence to break the law, to defy a Supreme Court order, to intimidate a vulnerable community or to spread hatred, especially so soon after a terror attack that remains painfully raw, and at a time when a ceasefire is already in place in Gaza.
Let us also dispense with the notion that these protests were ever about human rights or justice. If these activists genuinely cared about peace, perhaps they might show solidarity with the courageous young Iranian men and women risking their lives against a tyrannical regime. But that does not appear to trend well on Instagram.
They do not care about Iranians. They do not care about Palestinians and innocent civilians in Gaza, who are indeed worthy of our compassion.
They care about two things only: indulging in unadulterated Jew-hatred and manufacturing confrontation for social media.
By contrast, the overwhelming majority of Australians, who have stood with the Jewish community after Bondi, represent the very best of this country. They understand that standing against antisemitism is not a “Jewish issue” but an Australian one. They also understand that supporting Israel’s right to exist and defend itself is entirely consistent with advocating for peace and dignity for both Israelis and Palestinians.
Australia is a nation built on tolerance, freedom and respect for one another. The grotesque scenes outside Sydney Town Hall, and a number of other cities across Australia, were the antithesis of those values. They do not reflect mainstream Australia. They reflect a radical fringe intoxicated by hatred and emboldened by the failure to clearly call them out.
Despite these loud, aggressive voices, President Herzog’s visit offered both the healing we so deeply yearned, and a powerful reaffirmation of the enduring and inextricable bond between the Jewish state and the Jewish people in the diaspora, making clear that hatred will not divide us
The choice before Australia, therefore, is clear. Do we allow the loudest and most extreme voices to dictate our national conversation? Or do we, as a nation, say “enough is enough” to those who spread hatred under the guise of activism?
Bondi taught us a devastating lesson about what happens when violent rhetoric metastasises unchecked. We cannot afford to ignore that lesson again.
Arsen Ostrovsky is the Head of the Sydney Office of the Australia/Israel & Jewish Affairs Council. He is also a human rights lawyer and a survivor of the Bondi attack
To get more from opinion, click here to sign up for our free Editor's Picks newsletter.