President headlines moving evening of reflection

“We have come here not simply to tell you we are with you, but to show you that we are with you,” Israeli President Isaac Herzog told a packed ICC Sydney Theatre on Monday night.

The evening of unity, family and peace – held in contrast to hate-fuelled protests against his visit that raged just blocks away – was part of busy schedule that also involved laying a wreath and special stones at Bondi Pavilion on Monday morning and a special assembly at Moriah College on Tuesday.

“In the wake of the horror at Bondi Beach, we felt we must come to Australia to look you in the eye. To show up for you,” Herzog said on Monday night. “We have come to be with you, just as you have always shown up for us.

“We will never forget the people we lost, the wounds that were suffered, the families that grieve. And we will never forget the extraordinary ordinary people, who demonstrated courage and humanity, by running towards the fire to rescue strangers.”

The President said the hatred that triggered the Bondi terrorist attack “is the very same, age-old, plague of antisemitism endured by our parents and grandparents”.