Israeli President Isaac Herzog began an official visit to Australia today and laid a wreath at the site of the anti-Semitic attack in Sydney, which killed 15 people.
The Duke met with the families of the victims and survivors of the attack during a Jewish festival on Bondi Beach on December 14 last year.
The Israeli president laid a wreath and two stones he brought from Jerusalem at the site of the attack in memory of the victims and as a reminder that good people of all faiths and nations will be "strong in the face of terror, violence and hatred."
"I am here to express solidarity, friendship and love," Herzog told reporters, adding that his visit is an opportunity to advance relations between Israel and Australia.
In the worst attack in Australia in three decades, 15 people were killed and 40 injured as families celebrated Hanukkah. Only one of the two attackers survived a shootout with police.
The Duke will visit Melbourne and the capital Canberra before returning to Israel on Thursday.
On the occasion of Herzog's visit, demonstrations were held in Sydney and Melbourne over the way Israel waged war against the militant group Hamas in the Gaza Strip and treated the civilian population of that Palestinian territory.
Major Jewish groups welcomed the visit of Herzog, the former leader of the centrist Labour Party, who now has a largely ceremonial presidential role.
A smaller group from the Jewish Council of Australia took out full-page advertisements in Sydney and Melbourne newspapers on Monday, with the names of 687 Australian Jews, saying: "The Duke is not welcome."
“We refuse to allow our collective grief to be used to legitimize leaders whose rhetoric was part of inciting genocide against Palestinians in Gaza and contributed to the illegal annexation of the West Bank,” said Council Executive Officer Sarah Schwartz.
Jewish leaders initiated an invitation for the visit extended to Herzog by Governor-General Sam Mostyn, the Australian equivalent of a head of state, at the request of Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.
Albanese and his Israeli counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu have been openly hostile towards each other since Albanese announced six months ago that his government would recognize a Palestinian state.
On Monday, Herzog said he welcomed the Australian government's "positive steps" in combating anti-Semitism following the Bondi Beach attack, which was allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group.
The Australian parliament passed a law last month that makes it easier to ban groups for hate speech.
The government has announced that its highest form of public inquiry, the Royal Commission, will investigate the nature, prevalence and drivers of anti-Semitism in general, as well as the circumstances of the Bondi shooting.
Hercog said he shared the frustrations of the victims' families that more had not been done to prevent such an attack on the Jewish community in Australia.
“I have seen this wave of anti-Semitism growing around the world, and I have seen it in many countries, including Canada, Great Britain, the United States and Australia — all English-speaking countries,” Herzog said.
After the Bondi attack was declared a terrorist attack, the New South Wales state parliament passed a law increasing police powers to arrest protesters.
Up to 90 days after an attack is declared a terrorist attack, police can restrict protests for two weeks at a time. Police last week extended the restrictions for another two weeks in an effort to contain civil unrest in Sydney during Herzog's visit.
On Monday night, police clashed with hundreds of protesters outside Sydney Town Hall. They pepper-sprayed the crowd and several protesters were arrested.
The protest continued after organizers of the Palestine Action Group lost a court case against a police order banning them from marching from City Hall to the New South Wales Parliament.
In Melbourne, 5.000 protesters gathered outside the city center train station and then marched to the State Library, blocking traffic during the evening rush hour, police said.
A 20-year-old woman has been arrested for allegedly burning two flags and causing damage at a tram station, police said.
Earlier, Herzog said that the protests aimed at him were largely attempts to "undermine and delegitimize" Israel's right to exist.
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