Australian, Palestinian lawyers seek police probe of Israeli president

In light of rumor that Israeli President Isaac Herzog will travel to Australia early this month, three Australian and Palestinian legal organizations have officially requested that the Australian Federal Police (AFP) investigate him for his role in alleged war crimes.

The organizations announced on Friday that they had written to the AFP to “urgently alert” them about their concerns in light of President Isaac Herzog’s “military onslaught” in Gaza since October 7, 2023, “in light of serious and credible criminal allegations of incitement to genocide and advocating genocide.”

A 10-page submission from the Australian Centre for International Justice (ACIJ), Al-Haq, and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights contained both the allegations made against Herzog and Australia’s obligations under international law and its own domestic law.

Australia has both the legal authority and the duty to act, according to Rawan Arraf, executive director of the ACIJ, in a statement.

By allowing Herzog to enter Australia without an AFP investigation, Arraf added that the Australian government would be “blatant disregarding” its international legal obligations.

Herzog, the head of state, was the country’s general director, Shawan Jabarin, who pointed out that Israel killed 23, 000 children and 1, 000 babies in Gaza “before their first birthday,” according to Jabarin, the general director of Al-Haq.

4, 000 human embryos and the hope of a future life were destroyed by bombings, according to Jabarin.

In response to last month’s mass shooting that targeted a Jewish celebration at Bondi Beach and left 15 people dead, Herzog is scheduled to visit Sydney on February 7, according to The Times of Israel newspaper.

In December, Albanese informed reporters that the Australian government had invited Herzog to “honor and remember the victims of the Bondi anti-Semitic terrorist attack and offer support for Jewish Australians and the Australian Jewish community at this time.”

Ohad Kozminsky, an executive member of the Jewish Council of Australia, stated last month that Herzog’s visit would only “increase tensions and exacerbate division in our community” because he is “head of a foreign country that has been committing genocide.”

In the wake of the attack, the federal parliament of Australia passed stringent new gun reform laws as well as hate speech reforms, which have sparked concerns from opponents of some deeply sweeping reforms.

While “some of the most contentious provisions” were removed before the legislation was quickly passed earlier this week, according to the Jewish Council of Australia, others remained, including “enhanced ministerial powers to deport migrants based on arbitrary decision-making.”

In response to the antisemitic attack at Bondi, the council announced on Wednesday that 60, 000 people had signed its petition. It urged Australian “leaders to reject attempts to erode Jewish grief, erode civil liberties, or pit communities against one another.”

We are watching our grief and rage being used as a political tool to demonize Palestinians, Muslims, migrants, and the anti-genocide protest movement, according to Kozminsky in a statement.

According to Kozminsky, “parliamentary chaos and political whimsy do not strengthen Jewish safety.”