Israeli president ends a fraught Australia visit to comfort Jews as Gaza war protests follow

MELBOURNE, Australia (AP) — Israeli President Isaac Herzog ended a contentious four-day visit to Australia on Thursday that brought comfort to Sydney’s Jewish community traumatized by a recent antisemitic mass shooting, but also attracted large-scale demonstrations protesting the civilian toll of the Gaza war.

Herzog has been dogged by protesters who label him a war criminal as he visited Sydney, the national capital Canberra and Melbourne in the first Australian visit by an Israeli head of state in six years.

Authorities estimated 10,000 protesters shut down several downtown Melbourne streets with a rally Thursday evening as Herzog left the country. The largest protest of his visit was mostly peaceful, with only a single demonstrator facing a charge of assaulting a police officer, a police statement said.

Earlier, Herzog challenged protesters to target Iran, which he described as an "empire of evil” that had killed tens of thousands of its own citizens.

Addressing a Jewish community gathering in Melbourne under tight police security, he referred to Iran's ambassador to Australia being expelled six months ago over allegations the Revolutionary Guard had directed antisemitic arson attacks in Melbourne and Sydney. Australia's two largest cities are home to 85% of the nation's Jewish population.

“I say to all those protesters outside, go protest in front of the Iranian embassy or whichever embassy they have,” Herzog said.

Earlier in his Australian visit, Herzog said such protests were mostly attempts to “undermine and delegitimize” Israel’s right to exist.

Herzog and the Australian government agree he was invited to support a community reeling from a Dec. 14 attack, allegedly inspired by the Islamic State group, on a Jewish festival at Bondi Beach that left 15 people dead.

Zionist Federation of Australia President Jeremy Leibler, who accompanied Herzog during his Australian travels, appealed to protesters to consider the grieving Jewish community.

“The community in Sydney is feeling extremely uplifted and seen following his visits,” Leibler said.

Herzog’s critics take issue with another stated purpose of his visit. Herzog told The Associated Press in a statement last week his visit would “reinvigorate” bilateral relations and “dispel many of the lies and misinformation spread about Israel over the last two years.”

“Now that means his visit is not a visit to mourn, but it’s a visit that is political, that is in fact propaganda,” Australian human rights lawyer Chris Sidoti said. “So his view seems to be different from the Australian government’s view as to the purposes of his visit.”

Sidoti was one of three experts appointed by the U.N.’s Human Rights Council to an inquiry that reported in September last year that Herzog, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant had incited the commission of genocide in Gaza.

Bilateral relations have been strained over the plight of Palestinian civilians since the Israel-Hamas war began in 2023, particularly since Australia decided to recognize a Palestinian state six months ago.

Herzog said on Thursday his discussions with Australian political leaders and “opinion shapers” this week had been “conducted with candor, open-mindedness and a great deal of mutual respect.”

“I found serious partners who are willing to hold serious conversations and address the vile rhetoric, the misinformation, the shameful antisemitism head on,” Herzog said.

Police said a planned visit on Thursday to the ruins of Melbourne’s Adass Israel Synagogue, which Iran is accused of torching in late 2024, had been cancelled due to security concerns.

Anti-Herzog graffiti left overnight at a Melbourne University campus was removed early Thursday.

“The university stands firmly against antisemitism. Racism, hatred and violence have no place in our society or our nation. We became aware of the offensive graffiti on the edge of our Parkville (suburban) campus this morning and immediately sent cleaners who swiftly removed it,” a university statement said.

On his first day in Australia on Monday, Herzog laid a wreath at Bondi Beach. He also met survivors and bereaved families.

He addressed the media at the Australian Parliament House in Canberra on Wednesday, describing his visit as an opportunity to reset bilateral relations on a “new beginning and a better future.”

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at a Jewish community event in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

EDS NOTE: OBSCENITY - Demonstrators gather in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026, to protest the visit to Australia by Israeli President Isaac Herzog. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

Israeli President Isaac Herzog speaks at a Jewish community event in Melbourne, Thursday, Feb. 12, 2026. (AP Photo/Asanka Brendon Ratnayake)

NEW YORK (AP) — The split between Wall Street and most U.S. households grew wider Friday, as U.S. stocks rose toward the finish of an eighth straight winning week, their best such streak since 2023. That's even though a survey showed U.S. consumers are feeling even worse about the economy.

The S&P 500 added 0.7% and pulled closer to its all-time high set in the middle of last week. The Dow Jones Industrial Average was up 408 points, or 0.8%, as of noon Eastern time, and the Nasdaq composite was 0.6% higher.

Ross Stores helped drive the market and rose 6.5% after the off-price retailer reported profit and revenue for the latest quarter that easily cleared analysts’ expectations. CEO Jim Conroy said it saw strong customer traffic through the three months, and the company may have benefited from households spending their tax refunds.

Estee Lauder jumped 9.9% after saying it was no longer considering a possible merger with Puig, the Spanish fragrance and beauty products company.

Workday rose 3.9%, and Zoom Communications jumped 11.1% after both delivered better profit reports for the latest quarter than analysts expected.

They’re the latest companies to top analysts’ expectations for profits for the start of 2026, and the cavalcade of such reports has helped U.S. stocks remain near their records. Stock prices tend to follow the path of corporate profits over the long term.

The strength is coming even after a survey of U.S. consumers by the University of Michigan found sentiment fell to a record low, piercing below a bottom in 2022 when inflation peaked above 9%. Households are feeling worried about how bad inflation is now because of expensive oil created by the war with Iran.

U.S. consumers are forecasting inflation will worsen to 4.8% in the coming 12 months, up from a forecast of 4.7% last month, according to the survey. In the longer run, their forecasts for inflation jumped to 3.9% from 3.5% last month. Such rising expectations are a concern for economists because they can drive behavior that creates a vicious cycle that makes inflation worse.

Sentiment dropped in particular for lower-income consumers who are least able to absorb more expensive essentials, and it fell for Republicans as well, according to the survey.

Helping to keep uncertainty high have been continued swings for oil prices. They yo-yoed again on Friday, like they did through the week on uncertainty about when the United States and Iran may find a deal to reopen the Strait of Hormuz. Its closure has prevented oil tankers from exiting the Persian Gulf and delivering crude to customers worldwide.

The price for a barrel of Brent crude oil, the international standard, was last up 1% to $103.60. Benchmark U.S. crude, meanwhile, rose 0.7% to $97.04 per barrel after both erased earlier losses.

Worries about inflation staying high have pushed bond yields higher worldwide, threatening to slow economies and undercut prices for stocks, bitcoin and all kinds of other investments. High yields have already forced the average long-term U.S. mortgage rate to its most expensive level since last summer, and they could curtail companies’ borrowing to build the AI data centers that have supported the U.S. economy’s growth recently.

Yields had been down Friday morning, offering some relief, but they climbed after oil prices erased their losses and the survey on consumer sentiment showed worsening inflation expectations.

The yield on the 10-year Treasury pulled back to 4.57%, where it was late Thursday, and remains well above its 3.97% level from before the war.

Worries about inflation have climbed so high that traders on Wall Street have eliminated bets that the Federal Reserve will resume its cuts to interest rates this year. Lower rates would give the economy a boost, but they could also worsen inflation.

An important member of the Fed, Gov. Christopher Waller, said in a speech Friday, “If I believe inflation expectations start to become unanchored, I would not hesitate to support an increase in the target range for the federal funds rate.”

But he also said that is not the case now, and it “is time to simply sit and watch how the conflict and the data evolve” in his speech titled “Policy Risks Have Changed.”

In stock markets abroad, indexes rose across much of Europe and Asia.

Japan’s Nikkei 225 climbed 2.7% to another record after a report showed inflation hitting a four-year low in April, at 1.4%, despite higher prices for oil and gas due to the war.

AP Business Writers Chan Ho-him and Matt Ott contributed to this report.

Specialist Anthony Matesic, left, and trader Fred Demarco work on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Friday, May 22, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

Options trader Steven Rodriguez, center, works on the floor of the New York Stock Exchange, Monday, May 11, 2026. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

A dealer talks on the phone at a dealing room of Hana Bank in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 13, 2026. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man)

Asia markets index of Japan, South Korea and Australia is seen on a screen at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Thursday, May 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)

Currency traders watch monitors at the foreign exchange dealing room of the Hana Bank headquarters in Seoul, South Korea, Wednesday, May 20, 2026. (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon)