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“Shame on you! Free Palestine,” he yelled as the cars departed.

A motorcade ushered Israeli President Isaac Herzog in and out of Bondi. Sitthixay DitthavongAs police approached the protester, a second man, who appeared to be with the first, gave the motorcade the finger.

The man is being spoken to by police.

Share12.02pmProtests ‘undermine’ Israel’s existence: HerzogBy Angus ThomsonThe Israeli president was asked if he had a message for the pro-Palestinian supporters rallying against his visit today.“I have come here in goodwill and in a message [to the] people of Australia – Australia and Israel are close friends and allies since the days of old,” Isaac Herzog said.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog and wife Machal (second from right) visit the Bondi Pavilion public memorial.APHerzog said the demonstrations “undermine and delegitimise” his nation’s “mere existence”.“We did not seek that war [on] October 7,” he said.

“People were butchered, murdered, raped and burnt and abducted. We have here bereaved Israeli families who came from … Kibbutz Nir Oz and from the war in order to express their condolences here at Bondi.”

Share11.56amHerzog issues call to fight against antisemitismBy Angus ThomsonIsraeli President Isaac Herzog said he is in Australia to embrace and console the victims’ families from the December 14 Bondi terror attack, and to address antisemitism here and abroad.“When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain,” he said.“Antisemitism here in Australia is not a Jewish problem – it is an Australian problem and a global problem. Over the generations, one thing has become clear – hatred that starts with the Jews never ends with the Jews.“This is why the current rise in antisemitism around the world is a global emergency, and we must all act to fight against it.”

ShareAdvertisement11.53amHerzog pays tribute to 15 killed at BondiBy Angus ThomsonIsraeli President Isaac Herzog is now making a public statement at the Bondi Pavilion public memorial. “This very beach, beloved by the Australian people, and symbolic of all that’s great about this beautiful nation, became the scene of the deadliest terror attack in Australia’s history,” he said.

“Fifteen innocent souls who gathered to celebrate Hanukkah, the Festival of Light, were massacred in cold blood [by] Islamic terrorists.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at Bondi.NineHerzog paid tribute to the youngest victim – “sweet Matilda” – who was 10 years old. So too 87-year-old Alex Kleytman, who survived extermination of 6 million Jews in the Holocaust “only to be murdered for being a Jew on the beaches of Sydney, Australia”.Herzog then credited the heroes who stepped in to help victims.“In the face of this evil, we saw the very best of humanity,” he said. “Suddenly, here, on Bondi, surfboards became trenches and stretchers as extraordinary ordinary people ran in to the danger and saved innocent lives.”

Share11.45amHerzog places stones from Jerusalem at memorialBy Matthew KnottAs well as laying a wreath at Bondi, Israeli President Isaac Herzog has placed two stones he brought with him from Jerusalem. In Jewish tradition, leaving stones on a grave or scene of tragedy symbolises showing respect to the dead.

NSW Premier Chris Minns greeted Herzog at Bondi, with outgoing Israeli ambassador Amir Maimon also attending.

Share11.39amWatch live: Herzog speaks at BondiBy Israeli President Isaac Herzog addressed the media after laying a wreath at Bondi Pavilion for the 15 people killed on the first night of Hanukkah. Watch through the video player below.

ShareAdvertisement11.35amHerzog arrives in Bondi with large police escortBy Amber SchultzIsraeli President Isaac Herzog and his team have pulled into Bondi Pavilion.

Escorted by about a dozen police on motorbikes, with a police helicopter flying overhead, Herzog’s motorcade of black cars pulled in close to the pavilion.

His entourage, including Amir Maimon, the outgoing Israeli ambassador to Australia, walked in from the street carrying umbrellas to protect themselves from the rain.

Some people have arrived at the barricades near Bondi Pavilion to show their support for the president’s visit.

Share11.21amLiberal MP warns against political ‘assassination’ of party’s first female leaderBy Nick NewlingShadow attorney-general Andrew Wallace has described growing speculation over a challenge to Opposition Leader Sussan Ley’s leadership this week by right-wing aspirant Angus Taylor as “hypothetical”, “rumour” and “innuendo”.

“At the moment, there is no challenge, and I’m getting on with my job as the shadow attorney-general to prosecute our political agenda and to ensure that this government does what it should be doing, and that is keeping Australians safe,” Wallace told journalists at Parliament House.

Shadow attorney-general Andrew Wallace at a press conference at Parliament House.Getty Images“Sussan Ley is our elected leader. She is the first woman leader of the Liberal Party. And were she to be deposed, I can almost guarantee you there’ll be people out there saying, ‘Oh, you know, you guys have just politically assassinated the first female leader of the Liberal Party’,” Wallace said.

Wallace said Ley had done “a good job in very difficult circumstances”, but did not criticise senator Jane Hume for this morning saying the party was being led astray.

“We have a very strong tradition in our party room, and that is that people are free to voice any concerns or issues that they have … We do believe in the ability to be able to have your say. We do believe in the ability to be able to even cross the floor if you’re a backbencher. So I would encourage my colleagues to speak freely,” Wallace said.

Speaking earlier to Sky News, Wallace said he backed Ley’s leadership and that she needed clear air to lead the party.

Share10.52amFlag burning the focus of two bills tabled in parliamentBy Nick NewlingThe first two bills tabled in the House of Representatives today have both focused on burning or damaging the Australian flag, less than three weeks after a similar move failed in the Senate.

The first bill, introduced by Nationals MP Pat Conaghan, seeks to amend the Flags Act 1953 to create an offence if a person “desecrates or otherwise dishonours” the Australian flag in public, including if images or videos of the act are communicated to the public. The amendment seeks to make the offence punishable with a penalty of one year in jail.

Nationals MP Pat Conaghan introduced one of the bills. Alex EllinghausenThe second bill, from independent MP Rebekha Sharkie, seeks to amend the Criminal Code Act 1995 to the same end, but includes the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags as well. The amendment would mean a person “intentionally or recklessly” burning or desecrating the flags could be jailed for a minimum 12 months for a repeat offence, with a maximum penalty of two years in prison.

On January 20, during the snap return of parliament to pass the government’s gun and hate speech reforms, an amendment to criminalise burning the flag was backed by the Coalition, One Nation, the United Australia Party and independent senator Tammy Tyrell. It failed because Labor and the Greens wouldn’t support the move, which suggests today’s moves will also be unsuccessful.

Constitutional scholars have long argued that any move to criminalise flag burning would be unconstitutional, as it would prohibit Australian citizen’s implied freedom of political communication.

Both bills will be debated tomorrow.

ShareAdvertisement10.40amFormer Nat encourages crossbench defectionsBy Nick NewlingFormer Nationals MP turned independent Andrew Gee has welcomed defections from the party to the crossbench, saying “all is not happy in the once happy kingdom” of the Coalition.

“I can tell you that I get reports about what goes on in there, and the reports that I’ve received are the Nationals party room was not a fun place to be last week, and so I don’t know of any who are planning on making the move, but I basically extended the invitation to them, and I would say to them, ‘A better life awaits you’,” Gee told journalists at Parliament House.

Independent Andrew Gee is a former Nationals MP.Getty“You won’t have party bosses telling you what to do. You won’t have to put up with the juvenile theatrics. You can actually truly represent your communities. So any National Party MPs out there who want to make the move, come and have a chat.”

The Coalition reunited yesterday after a 17-day split led by Nationals leader David Littleproud. A Nationals party room meeting was held last week in which rogue MP Colin Boyce unsuccessfully challenged for the leadership, and MP Darren Chester put up an emphatically supported motion to reunite the Coalition as a priority.

“Every single person that stopped me at electorate events over the weekend wanted to say how shocked and appalled they were at what’s happening in the Coalition, and that’s usually followed by the comment, ‘You got out at the right time. You must be very happy’,” Gee said.

Gee moved to the crossbench in 2022 over the Nationals’ opposition of the Voice referendum.