"Herzog's presence here is an insult to every Palestinian who has lost their home, their family, their life," said Amina, a 34-year-old protester holding a sign that read, "Stop the Genocide in Gaza."
"Starmer must act now—arrest Herzog and show the world that the UK stands against war crimes," she added.
Zarah Sultana—a member of Parliament (MP) who recently quit Starmer's Labour Party and joined with fellow former Labour MP Jeremy Corbyn and others to launch the Independent Alliance—told protesters that Herzog has "dehumanized an entire population and openly called for their extermination."
"This Labour government is complicit, is enabling genocide," she added.
Later on Tuesday, protesters gathered outside the InterContinental London Park Lane Hotel, where Herzog was reportedly staying, calling him the "genocide president" and chanting, "Free Palestine!" and "No justice, no peace!"
While not targeted by the International Criminal Court—which last year issued arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in Gaza—Herzog is the subject of criminal complaints filed in Switzerland last year by the advocacy group Legal Action Against Genocide "for incitement to genocide and crimes against humanity."
Days after the Hamas-led attack of October 7, 2023 that left more than 1,100 Israelis and others dead—at least some of whom were killed by so-called "friendly fire" and under the intentionally fratricidal Hannibal Directive—and around 250 people kidnapped, Herzog suggested that every Palestinian man, woman, and child in Gaza was a legitimate target.
"It is an entire nation out there that is responsible," Herzog told reporters on October 13, 2023. "It is not true this rhetoric about civilians not being aware, not involved. It's absolutely not true. They could have risen up. They could have fought against that evil regime which took over Gaza."
That same month, Ezra Yachin—a 95-year-old veteran of the Zionist terror militia Stern Gang who allegedly took part in the 1948 massacre of more than 100 Palestinian civilians at Deir Yassin—delivered a motivational speech to troops about to invade Gaza, urging them to "wipe out [Palestinians'] memory, their families, mothers, and children."
Herzog hailed Yachin's speech as "a wonderful example to generations of soldiers."
When the International Court of Justice (ICJ)—which is currently weighing a genocide case against Israel filed by South Africa—issued its January 2024 order for Israel to avoid genocidal acts in Gaza, Herzog's October 13, 2023 comments were listed second in a series of "dehumanizing" statements by Israeli officials who were possibly inciting genocide.
Tuesday's protests against Herzog followed a demonstration earlier in the day outside the Defense and Security Equipment International (DSEI) arms fair at Excel London at Royal Victoria Dock, where thousands of people rallied against UK complicity in Israel's genocidal war and famine.
Israel's 705-day onslaught has left at least 237,000 Palestinians dead, maimed, or missing. Hundreds of thousands of Gazans are starving due to Israel's "complete siege" and engineered famine, and around 1 million Palestinians are facing ethnic cleansing under a US-backed plan to conquer, occupy, and resettle Gaza.
UK leaders have come under fire for cracking down on anti-genocide protests, including by banning the group Palestine Action and arresting hundreds of people who have publicly voiced support for the organization.
Condemnation of Herzog's visit was not limited to the streets of London. In the House of Commons, Scottish National Party Leader Stephen Flynn told fellow parliamentarians that "Gaza is a graveyard."
"But rather than end arms sales, extend sanctions, and stand by international law, the prime minister will today welcome into his home.. the man who called for the collective punishment of the Palestinian people, and who signed the artillery shells that destroyed their homes, their families, and their friends," Flynn said.
"What does it say of this prime minister that we will harbor this man while children starve?" Flynn asked.
Zack Polanski, a member of the London Assembly and leader of the Green Party of England and Wales, said Tuesday in a statement that "welcoming a potential war criminal to the UK is another demonstration of how this Labour government is implicated in the ongoing genocide in Gaza."
"A refusal to detain Herzog can be seen as a contravention of the Geneva Convention, which makes clear that states have legal responsibility for preventing the targeting of civilians," Polanski added. "When this is breached, individuals must be prosecuted, and this should be applied to Herzog."
Critical media also decried Herzog's visit, with the pro-independence Scottish newspaper The National on Wednesday running the front-page headline, "Starmer Rolls Out Red Carpet for Genocide."
Writing for Middle East Eye, British author, political commentator, and Labour politician Ali Milani noted Wednesday that "Starmer has... described the actions of Herzog's government as 'appalling, counterproductive, and intolerable.'"
"To say one thing in Parliament about Israel's actions, and then to roll out the red carpet for Herzog, would not only endorse the impunity granted to Tel Aviv over Israeli crimes in Gaza; it would also shred the credibility of Labour's foreign policy," he argued.
"There should be no red carpet. There should be no ministerial meetings. Instead, there should be accountability," Milani added. "The only reason to welcome this man into our country is to immediately facilitate his transfer to The Hague to be tried for war crimes."
