Labor MPs to defy protest restrictions for Israeli president visit

Restrictions on protest marches in Sydney’s CBD and east will continue for another 14 days as NSW Police hold concerns for public safety ahead of Israeli President Isaac Herzog’s visit next week.

“What I fear is a large-scale public assembly with so much animosity could present a risk to community safety,” NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon said.

At least two Labor MPs will still protest against Herzog, despite Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Premier Chris Minns both supporting the visit, this masthead has confirmed.

The public assembly restrictions allow police to blanket-refuse all Form 1 applications for protest marches in impacted areas, meaning protesters do not have protections from some offences like obstructing traffic.

The decision comes as pro-Palestine activists prepare for a nationwide day of protests on Monday against Herzog, who was invited by Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to visit Australia after the Bondi terror attack.

Lanyon said he was not confident police could adequately protect the wider community, including the “still recovering” eastern suburbs, if the march were authorised. The police commissioner said there were 10 antisemitic incidents under investigation in NSW from the past two weeks.

The Palestine Action Group plans to rally at Town Hall and march to NSW Parliament, which are both included in the restricted area.

Lanyon said police would facilitate a protest that begins in Hyde Park and marches south along College Street, away from NSW Parliament.

Groups, including Labor Friends of Palestine, say Herzog’s visit will only inflame tensions in the community. Herzog was pictured signing a bomb set to be dropped into Gaza in 2023, and a United Nations commission of inquiry found Herzog and other Israeli officials were “liable to prosecution for incitement to genocide” for comments made after the October 7 attack by Hamas.

Upper house MP Sarah Kaine said she will march on Monday both to support the right to protest and to decry Herzog.

“Set aside war criminality, and just stop and think about someone signing a bomb that then kills Gazan children – I have to register my most sincere concern and despair that he is coming to Australia,” Kaine said.

Fellow Labor MP Stephen Lawrence will also attend the march. He told the Lebanese Muslim Association’s podcast last week that he was personally “revolted” by the decision to invite Herzog, given the Israeli government’s leadership, including Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, is the focus of an International Criminal Court indictment.

“I don’t think we’ve ever before invited to our country a head of state whose head of government is under an ICC indictment,” Lawrence said.

Also on Tuesday, the NSW government announced reforms to make it easier for teachers and principals who engage in racially motivated hate speech to be sacked by the regulator.

The NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA) will enforce a new code of conduct banning hate speech, even if the threshold for criminal prosecution isn’t met.

The Herald previously reported the principal of New Madinah College, an Islamic school in Young, was stood aside pending an investigation into anti-Zionist comments made on social media.

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