NSW Labor backbenchers have vowed to attend a protest in Sydney against a visit by Israel’s president, Isaac Herzog, with one saying he would attend because Australia should not welcome the head of a state engaged in an “ongoing genocide”.
Another member of the government said he attended – despite previous objections to the rallies – to show that “Bondi is not for such protests”.
Labor MLCs Cameron Murphy, Stephen Lawrence and Sarah Kaine said they would attend Monday night’s rally organized by the Palestine Action Group as part of a national protest. But it is unclear whether they will march from Town Hall to state parliament in opposition to a ban.
Chris Minns’ push to ban marches in designated areas following the Bondi terror attack continues after NSW police commissioner Mal Lanyon extended the ban for a fourth time on Tuesday.
Lanyon said Herzog’s visit was a factor in his decision. The ban prevents protests being allowed under the form 1 system – which means protesters who march risk being arrested for blocking traffic, for example.
Organizers of the Sydney protest said they planned to walk from Town Hall to Macquarie Street despite the route falling within the restriction zone. They called on the NSW police to help make that peaceful.
Murphy said he would attend the rally “because we should not be welcoming to Australia the head of a state that is engaged in ongoing genocide”. He told Guardian Australia that Herzog signed a bombshell and “disregarding international law as an active supporter of illegal settlements”.
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Lawrence said he will go to the Town Hall rally but will decide on Monday whether to march. He said he will obey the law.
“I will attend the rally because I want to show the obvious but important points that peaceful protest is in accordance with the law of this country; that Bondi was not caused by such protests; and that inviting the head of a state whose head of government is under indictment by the ICC suggests that we do not take the proceedings seriously,” he told Guardian Australia.
On Tuesday night, Lawrence said of the police decision to extend the ban on marches in certain areas: “I’m just not sure that continuing to expand this thing to apply to the visit of the president of Israel is actually going to make us safer.”
“It could create a flashpoint, and it worries me,” he said on ABC radio.
The current ban on protest faces a constitutional challenge. Lawrence, who is also a lawyer, raised serious concerns over the delay in the hearing.
He pointed out that the state agreed that the case would be heard on January 16, but “after the judge spoke to the chief justice, it was not listed until the end of February”.
“People who want to protest don’t have the opportunity to have a court order on this,” Lawrence said.
Kaine said he will attend the PAG rally, where he is scheduled to speak. Asked if he would march if it passed through the restricted area, he said: “For now, my plan is to attend a legal protest.”
“We all need to be aware that what is legal is nuanced,” Kaine told Guardian Australia, adding that he would attend Monday night, “in light of the discussions about the protest that are going on,” and in opposition to Herzog’s visit.
“I don’t think we should welcome someone to this country who is so involved in actions that resulted in the deaths of 75,000 innocent Gazans.”
A spokesman for the Palestine Action Group, Josh Lees, said Tuesday that there have been no safety issues at the weekly pro-Palestine rally that has been held for the past two years. Minns declared on Tuesday that “we will never have a riot in Sydney”.
Minns said on Wednesday that he had not spoken to MPs who planned to attend rallies during Herzog’s visit. The premier said the police were negotiating with the Palestine Action Group about the location of their protest.
Asked if the government was divided by Herzog’s visit, Minns said: “Look, not the cabinet at all.” He accepted there was division in the wider party “or even Labor MPs … and that’s been the way for a long time”.
Minns was asked on Wednesday about the possibility of Labor politicians being arrested under legislation rushed through parliament in December. The premier replied, “I don’t think that should happen.”
State Greens MP for Newtown, Jenny Leong, said on Wednesday: “If there’s a march, I’ll march.
“Neither the premier nor the police commissioner will stop me and thousands of others who know that genocide is wrong – and we have the right to protest.”
A UN commission concluded in September 2025 that Israel committed genocide in Gaza. That commission, which did not speak for the UN, said that Herzog, the prime minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, and then the minister of defense, Yoav Gallant, “incited to commit genocide”.
Israel’s foreign ministry REJECTED the commission’s report, calling it “distorted and false” and claiming that it “relies entirely on the lies of Hamas”.
Herzog called the case of genocide against Israel in the international court of justice a “blood libel form” and pushed back on criticism of his 2023 statement that “it is an entire country that bears responsibility” for the 7 October attack on Israel.
He admitted that he was taken out of context, and noted that he had said in the same media appearance that Israel respects international law and has no excuse for killing innocent civilians. The ICJ has yet to issue its final ruling.