Albanese presses Herzog on 2024 Gaza airstrike that killed Australian aid worker

President Isaac Herzog, on the third day of his trip to Australia, traveled on Wednesday to the capital Canberra, where Prime Minister Anthony Albanese pressed him for criminal charges to be filed over the killing of an Australian aid worker in a 2024 IDF airstrike in the Gaza Strip.

The issue underscored the sharp divide between official Australian displays of solidarity over the Bondi Beach Hanukkah terror attack in Sydney, and widespread, sometimes violent scenes of protests by demonstrators opposed to the visit by Israel’s president.

During the discussions, Albanese demanded that Israel press criminal charges over a strike on an aid convoy in Gaza that killed seven people, including an Australian aid worker, Zomi Frankcom.

“We continue to press for full accountability, including any appropriate criminal charges,” Albanese said during a press conference following the meeting. He noted that he conveyed Australia’s expectation for “transparency” regarding the ongoing investigations into the incident.

Frankcom was one of four World Central Kitchen aid workers killed by an Israeli drone on April 1, 2024. The other aid workers were an American-Canadian dual citizen, a Palestinian and a Polish national. Three British security staff were also killed in the same airstrike.

The IDF has called the incident a grave mistake and fired two senior commanders involved in the strikes. Three other commanders were formally reprimanded.

Herzog gave no response to the request.

The president instead chose to utilize his four-day visit as an opportunity to reset ties strained by Australia’s condemnations of Israeli actions in the war against Hamas in Gaza, as well as by charges that Australia has done little to combat the mounting antisemitism that culminated in the Bondi attack that killed 15 people.

Herzog told reporters that his visit has been “very emotional” in light of the suffering the Bondi massacre has caused Sydney’s Jewish community.

“This is an opportunity to bring the relations between our nations to a new beginning and a better future,” Herzog said.

Speaking alongside Albanese, Herzog shifted the focus toward regional security, specifically the threat posed by Iran. He expressed hope that talks Wednesday between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and US President Donald Trump would help dismantle what he termed Iran’s “empire of evil.”

Herzog also said, “I hope the next phase in Gaza, which is important to all of us, will bring a better future.” He added that his visit aimed to put bilateral relations “back on track” and address the “global emergency” of rising antisemitism.

Herzog began his day in Canberra, after arriving from Sydney on a Royal Australian Air Force aircraft with Albanese. He was received at Government House by Governor-General Sam Mostyn with full military honors, including a 21-gun salute.

Following the ceremony, Herzog held a series of meetings at Parliament House with Albanese, Opposition Leader Sussan Ley, and other senior officials.

Protests continue

As Herzog met with government officials, hundreds of demonstrators gathered on the lawns of Parliament House, waving Palestinian flags and holding placards that labeled the Israeli president a “war criminal.”

Mehreen Faruqi, the Muslim deputy leader of the influential Greens party, told protesters outside Parliament House on Wednesday that Herzog was not welcome in Australia.

She condemned Albanese and New South Wales state Premier Chris Minns for police use of pepper spray and aggressive tactics in clashes with protesters in Sydney on Monday. Police were given increased powers to arrest protesters due to Herzog’s visit.

“It is shameful that the premier of New South Wales and the prime minister of Australia are offering warm handshakes, photo opportunities and canapés to a war criminal, to a war criminal who has incited genocide, while those who are fighting for peace, who are protesting against the genocide, are attacked and assaulted and thrown to the ground,” Faruqi told the crowd, many of whom chanted “Arrest Herzog.”

David Pocock, an independent senator and former captain of Australia’s rugby team, also joined the demonstration outside Parliament.

“It was the wrong decision to invite President Herzog at this time when we have seen so much strain on communities and tension in communities across the country,” Pocock told Australian Broadcasting Corp.

Though Australia’s major political parties largely back Herzog’s visit, Albanese spoke in Parliament on Wednesday to several lawmakers who opposed it and accused the Israeli leader of inciting genocide in Gaza and inflaming community tensions within Australia.

The prime minister defended the visit and said it was an opportunity to “raise the issue” of the killed aid workers.

“That’s one of the reasons why you have dialogue in a respectful way; to get outcomes and to advance Australia’s national interests,” he told Parliament.

Israel vociferously denies accusations of genocide in its war against Hamas in Gaza that was sparked by the October 7, 2023, invasion of southern Israel that killed some 1,200 people and saw 251 taken hostage.

Herzog’s role in Israel is largely ceremonial and he has no role in setting policy.

Security was exceptionally tight throughout the day, with snipers stationed on the roof of Government House and a massive police presence encircling the parliamentary precinct. This followed violent clashes in Sydney earlier in the week.

Herzog’s visit was initiated by an invitation from the Australian government following the Hanukkah terror attack at Sydney’s Bondi Beach in which 15 people were killed and dozens injured. That attack remains a raw wound for Australia’s 120,000-strong Jewish community, which has endured some of the worst antisemitism in the world since October 7.

The country saw 1,654 antisemitic incidents during the 12-month period from October 1, 2024, to September 30, 2025, about five times the annual average recorded in the decade prior to the October 7 attack, according to the Executive Council of Australian Jewry (ECAJ).

On Tuesday, Herzog visited the Bondi site to lay a wreath and meet with survivors.

“What we saw in Bondi, the blood-curdling act of blind hatred, hatred of Jews, hatred of Australian values, simply has no place in this country, or anywhere for that matter,” Herzog said in remarks at the event, according to the president’s office. “When one Jew is hurt, all Jews feel their pain.”

Herzog also visited Israel’s embassy in Australia and did a ceremonial olive tree planting during the trip.

An absolute honor for the Embassy of Israel to host President Isaac Herzog and First Lady Michal Herzog for a ceremonial Olive Tree planting, exactly 40 years after his late parents, President Chaim Herzog and Mrs. Aura Herzog, marked their historic state visit.

This is… pic.twitter.com/kduIJvbAFw

— Israel in Australia (@IsraelinOZ) February 11, 2026

Herzog is scheduled to travel to Melbourne on Thursday for the final leg of his trip before returning to Israel.