The demand is growing to bar the Israeli president from entering Australia next month as a coalition of civil society groups lodged a legal complaint urging authorities to deny Isaac Herzog a visa and open a criminal investigation under Australian law, Anadolu reports.
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, according to a statement by ANIC that was posted on US social media platform X.
They called on authorities to refuse entry to Herzog and demanded an investigation into whether his public statements and conduct amount to incitement to genocide, complicity in war crimes and unlawful hate speech.
The complaint, prepared by a senior counsel, cites publicly documented remarks made by Herzog in his official capacity.
The groups also accused Herzog of repeatedly denying or downplaying the scale of the humanitarian crisis in the Gaza Strip, despite findings by UN agencies and famine review bodies confirming widespread starvation and civilian suffering.
Demand grows to disallow Israeli president from entering Australia, Middle East Monitor