Letter to the Editor -President Herzog’s Visit to Australia

In the pursuit of free speech, Fremantle Shipping News is committed to posting opinions that address difficult-to-talk-about but important issues, like antisemitism. We recently published a media release from six Jewish groups opposed to the visit to Australia of the Israeli President Isaac Herzog. We now post a Letter to the Editor taking issue with the views of those groups.

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Dear Editor,

The Weekly Edition of the Shipping News #263, 6 February 2026, published a media release from Six Jewish groups opposing the visit to Australia of Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Major General Doran Almog on 9–12 February . The groups unequivocally condemned the visit and endorsed national rallies to protest against it.

Two things stand out in the statement. The first establishes the groups’ bona fides as having “no loyalty to the State of Israel”. While this may or may not give their opinions greater credibility than anyone else’s, the groups do in fact, to judge by mass demonstrations by Jewish citizens in Tel Aviv, share a degree of common cause with citizens who oppose the actions in Gaza by the Government of Israel. It would be fair to say that those Israeli demonstrators, likely to include some of the country’s 21% of Arabs, are highly unlikely to be disloyal to the State of Israel, and in fact be committed Zionists. It also may be fair to say that most Jewish Australians would be similarly disposed. A supposition perhaps, but at least one capable of being tested.

The second is the frequent charge of ‘genocide’ directed at the Government of Israel for its continuing actions in Gaza. This is not a charge to be carelessly brandished at will. Its type example in history is of course the Holocaust, almost beyond comprehension in its scale and cruelty, but committed outside the lifetimes of most people alive today. Its modern example on the other hand, the 7 October 2023 invasion of Israel by Hamas, remains very fresh in the memory. Characterised by the slaughter of the innocents and hostage-taking, it was celebrated to Australia’s eternal shame the day after on the forecourt of the Sydney Opera House with shouts of ‘Where’s the Jews’.

What these examples have in common is their denial of not only the right of Jews to nationhood but their perpetrator’s explicit intent to rid the world of the Jews in their entirety. The question therefore arises as to whether the actions of Israel can be viewed in a similar light or, if not, are they ‘proportionate’? The groups cites rulings of the International Court of Justice and the UN as authorities in the affirmative, but these rulings are highly contestable for reasons too complex to be discussed here. However, neither body can rule definitively on the critical question that lies at the heart of asserted genocidal actions: that of ‘intent’. Israel has expressed its intention to destroy Hamas, but not all Gazans, and much less so all Palestinians.

The Herzog visit is now long over but its echoes linger on. As stated at the outset, the groups unequivocally condemned the visit and endorsed national rallies to protest it. A member of one of the groups states that “The President of Israel’s visit is divisive and will increase antisemitism in Australia”. And it actually did, though not in the sense foreshadowed by the groups. What in fact transpired was demonstrations that gave the likes of Grace Tame a platform to shriek ‘Globalise the Intifada’, a phrase which may once have meant an uprising but is now seen by the Jewish community as an incitement to anti-Jewish violence. The companion cry of ‘From the river to the sea’ is of course much less equivocal.

To deny that these and multiple other demonstrations around Australia since 7 October and 14 December are not the breeding grounds for the outbreak of antisemitic incidents that followed them is beyond belief and reason. Those demonstrations were not a reaction to anything that Australian Jews have done. They are, like the holocausts before them, attacks on Jews for what they are.

What the Jews in Australia have done is to contribute far beyond their numbers to our civic, cultural and economic life, not forgetting outstanding contributions to the allied victory in World War 2. This is particularly true of Jews in the history of Fremantle.

The conflict in Gaza is an unfolding tragedy for Palestinians and Israelis alike. The daily images from Gaza of conditions there are heart-rending; images of violence inflicted on Israelis on 7 October are too graphic to broadcast. But none of this has anything to do with Jews and Arabs in Australia. In a humanitarian sense, we are all Australians for Jews and Palestinians. We can be this outside of the bitter disputes of who did what to whom. The Jews for Palestine groups could play a constructive role in this if they would but recognise it.

Gerry MacGill (address supplied)

February 2026

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