An anti-Zionist Jewish organization has teamed up with a Hezbollah-linked group and a Muslim Brotherhood-linked organization to demand that the Australian government deny President Isaac Herzog a visa to Australia for his forthcoming visit this month.
The latest move by the Jewish Council of Australia (JCA) puts a spotlight on the ties the controversial anti-Israel organization has with groups linked to terrorist organizations.
The JCA co-signed a statement with the Australian National Imams Council (ANIC) and the Belgian-based Hind Rajab Foundation calling on the Attorney-General, the Minister for Home Affairs, and the Australian Federal Police to refuse "entry for Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the commencement of a criminal investigation under Australian law."
Since it was set up in early 2024, the JCA has collaborated closely with the Australian Palestine Advocacy Network (APAN), whose leaders have called October 7 “an act of resistance.”
As the JCA took legal action against President Herzog, APAN head Nasser Mashni issued statements endorsing the step, saying "war criminals must be arrested, not welcomed." "The disgusting human in head of a state of a country guilty of genocide," Mashni said in a video posted on his socials.
The JCA has frequently acted in lockstep with APAN, which has played a lead role in the protest movement since October 7. For over two years, tens of pro-Palestinian protesters have taken over Australian city streets every week for more than two years, praising October 7, calling for Israel’s destruction, chanting “Intifada,” and at times holding photos of Hamas and Hezbollah leaders and waving their flags.
Herzog's visit, supporting vitcims of Bondi massacre
Herzog is expected to visit Australia from February 8 to 12 to show his support for the Jewish community and to visit the site of the December 14 Bondi massacre.
The head of the Australian National Imams Council is Ibrahim Abu Mohammed, the Mufti of Australia. He is a member of the Qatar-based IUMS (International Union of Muslim Scholars), which was set up by Yusuf al-Qaradawi, considered the spiritual leader of the Muslim Brotherhood. Egyptian-born Abu Mohammed signed a fatwa issued by the IUMS in March 2025, calling on Muslims to arm and fund Hamas. It also declared violence against the “Zionist entity and all those who collaborate with it.”
'Joined the resistance against Israel'
The Hind Rajab Foundation is chaired by Dyab Abou Jahjah, who, in a 2003 New York Times article, claimed he had “joined the Hezbollah resistance against Israel” and “had some military training.” Abou Jahjah is also included on the US government’s “No Fly” list because his family is linked, through business and personal ties, to Hezbollah’s terror-funding network.
Based in Belgium and named for a six-year-old Gazan girl killed in January 2024, the Hind Rajab Foundation has filed dozens of criminal complaints against Israeli soldiers and officials visiting or stationed in European countries over the past two years. It has no known offices in Australia.
The JCA was set up in early 2024 by lawyer Sarah Schwartz and academic Max Kaiser. It successfully opposed a parliamentary inquiry into antisemitism in 2025. After the Bondi massacre, it opposed a Royal Commission into antisemitism, though the government was eventually forced to call one following a groundswell of public support.
Schwartz and Kaiser had previously been members of another anti-Zionist organization, the Loud Jew Collective, along with APAN board member Jordana Silverstein, and had marched at protests calling for Israel’s destruction. APAN and the JCA often work in tandem on events, fundraising, and social media activations.
The push to prevent Herzog’s visit to Australia has been backed by APAN and has resulted in a number of anti-Israel groups demanding that Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese government call off the planned visit by the Israeli president. Many have announced they will carry out mass demonstrations on February 9 called "Protest Israel's President'.