ISTANBUL

Calls are growing to bar Israeli President Isaac Herzog from entering Australia as lawmakers debate a motion urging Canberra to withdraw an invitation extended to him.

Australia's Greens Party Senator David Shoebridge said his party moved the motion in the Senate, calling on Prime Minister Anthony Albanese to revoke the invitation to Herzog, who is expected to visit the country next week.

Herzog has “literally signed bombs used in the genocide in Gaza. Labor, the Liberals and One Nation joined together to vote it down,” said Shoebridge, who represents New South Wales (NSW) in the upper house of the Australian parliament.

“That tells you everything,” Shoebridge added.

Herzog is expected to land in Sydney on Feb. 8 for a four-day visit.

Last week, a coalition of civil society groups lodged a legal complaint urging authorities to deny Herzog a visa and to open a criminal investigation under Australian law.

The complaint was submitted by the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC), along with the Jewish Council of Australia and the Hind Rajab Foundation, to the attorney general, the minister for home affairs and the federal police.

Earlier, prominent Australian justice advocates also demanded that the federal police investigate Herzog for incitement to genocide ahead of his visit.

The Australian Centre for International Justice, together with Palestinian advocacy groups including Al Haq and the Al Mezan Center for Human Rights, said in a formal request for an investigation that it would be unacceptable for Herzog, who is accused of inciting genocide, to enter Australia without consequence.

Herzog was invited by Prime Minister Albanese following the Bondi Beach attack in December, which killed 15 people and injured 42.

“I certainly welcome [Herzog] coming and I look forward to visiting, and I note that Anne Aly has made appropriate comments as well, welcoming the fact that this will be, welcoming anything that leads to a greater sense of unity. We need to build social cohesion in this country," Albanese told reporters last week.

A UN Human Rights Council special commission of inquiry into the war in the Gaza Strip found last year that Israel was committing genocide, and said comments made by Herzog following the Hamas attack of Oct. 7, 2023, were evidence of genocidal intent.

Separately, NSW Police Commissioner Mal Lanyon announced a 14-day extension of restrictions on protests ahead of planned demonstrations against Herzog’s visit, according to ABC News.