‘Death to Herzog’: Anti-Herzog graffiti surfaces on a Melbourne University wall as Israeli president faces pro-Palestine protests during Australia visit; watch video
The visit apparently brought relief to the Jewish community traumatized by a recent anti-Semitic mass attack in Sydney, but also featured large-scale demonstrations protesting the damage inflicted on civilians by the Gaza war.
“We came here to be with you, to look into your eyes, to embrace, to remember and to cry together, and we did.” Herzog told a Jewish community that he held a meeting under tight police security in Melbourne on Thursday, hours before leaving Australia, AP news agency reported.
“We actually cried a lot this week, and yet I must tell you that we returned to Israel feeling strengthened because we have seen first-hand the beauty, resilience and importance of this community to all well-intentioned Australians,” he said.
Herzog and the Australian government agree that he has been called upon to lend support to a community reeling from an attack allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group at a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach on December 14, 2025, that left 15 people dead.
Bilateral relations have been strained since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, particularly over the plight of Palestinian civilians since Australia decided to recognize the Palestinian state six months ago.
Herzog said on Thursday that his meetings this week with Australian political leaders and “opinion shapers” were “conducted with candor, open-mindedness and mutual respect”. “I have found serious partners who are willing to have serious conversations and directly address disgusting rhetoric, misinformation, and shameful anti-Semitism,” Herzog said.
A planned visit on Thursday to the ruins of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, which was set on fire in late 2024, has been canceled due to security concerns, police said. Australia accused Iran of orchestrating the arson attack and expelled Iranian Ambassador Ahmad Sadeghi in August.
University of Melbourne wall defaced with shocking anti-Herzog graffiti
Ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit to Australia, the wall of a university in Melbourne was defaced with “anti-Herzog graffiti”. Graffiti left overnight was removed early Thursday before his visit.
The spray-painted message called for Herzog’s death, according to APT News, an online news source. It was removed in a short time and the police launched an investigation into the matter. The incident comes amid rising protests and tensions across the country, with pro-Palestinian groups holding rallies in many cities. Authorities are calling for calm while monitoring the situation closely.
“The university resolutely opposes anti-Semitism. Racism, hatred and violence have no place in our society or nation. This morning, we were made aware of disturbing graffiti on the edge of our Parkville (suburban) campus and immediately dispatched janitorial staff and quickly removed it,” the university said in a statement, as quoted by the AP.
On his first day in Australia on Monday, Herzog laid a wreath at Bondi Beach. He also met survivors and grieving families. He addressed the media at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday, describing his visit as an opportunity to reset bilateral relations on a “new beginning and a better future”.
Australia seeks charges over Israeli airstrike that killed Australian aid worker in Gaza in 2024
Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said on Wednesday, February 11, 2026, that Australia has requested criminal charges be filed in connection with the 2024 Israeli airstrike on an aid convoy in Gaza, which killed seven people, including an Australian aid worker. The case sparked widespread condemnation and strained relations between the two countries.
Albanese said he conveyed this request to visiting Israeli President Isaac Herzog at a meeting held earlier in the day.
Australian Zomi Frankcom was one of four World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by an Israeli drone on April 1, 2024, according to the AP. The other aid workers were a dual American-Canadian citizen, a Palestinian and a Polish citizen. Three British security guards were also killed in the same airstrike.
There was no immediate response to Albanese’s request from Herzog, who visited the national capital Canberra on Wednesday after spending two days in Sydney, to reassure Jews reeling from the antisemitic attack at Bondi Beach in December that left 15 people dead.
