Sydney (AFP) – Australia's Prime Minister said Tuesday he was "devastated" by scenes of clashes at a Sydney rally against a visit by Israeli President Isaac Herzog, but defended the police's actions against protesters.

Herzog's tightly secured, four-day trip aims to console Australia's Jewish community after the December shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

But chaos erupted on Monday evening in the heart of Australia's largest city as police tried to prevent a rally from marching into an area designated off-limits.

Law enforcement hit protesters and members of the media, including AFP, with pepper spray in rarely-seen violent scuffles in Sydney's central business district.

Asked about the scenes, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese told local radio he was "devastated" to see the violence.

"These are really scenes that I think shouldn't be taking place," he said.

"People should be able to express their views peacefully, but the police were very clear about the routes that were required if people wanted to march," he added.

New South Wales Premier Chris Minns said the police had been placed in "incredibly difficult circumstances".

Not far from the protests, he noted, Herzog had been taking part in an event for the victims of the December 14 killings alongside thousands of mourners.

Minns said it would have been a "disaster" if protesters had been allowed to march near that event.

New South Wales police have said they arrested 27 people at the rallies, including 10 for assaulting law enforcement, and have confirmed they deployed pepper spray against the crowd.

But they have sparked outrage with a video circulating on social media showing Muslim men praying near Sydney's Town Hall being pushed and shoved by the police.

Local Greens lawmaker Abigail Boyd told local broadcaster ABC she had been hurt by police at the march and posted a selfie to social media wearing a neck brace.

"I didn't know that this was what police could do in our state. I feel just absolutely shocked," she said.

Herzog's visit is expected to last until Thursday.

On Tuesday he is expected to meet with the families of victims of the Bondi attack -- the deadliest against Jews since Hamas's assault on Israel on October 7, 2023.

Many Jewish Australians have welcomed Herzog's trip.

"His visit will lift the spirits of a pained community," said Alex Ryvchin, co-chief executive of the Executive Council of Australian Jewry, the community's peak body.

But some in the community disagreed, with the progressive Jewish Council of Australia saying he was not welcome because of his alleged role in the "ongoing destruction of Gaza".

The UN's Independent International Commission of Inquiry found last year that Herzog was liable for prosecution for inciting genocide after he said all Palestinians -- "an entire nation" -- were responsible for the Hamas attack on Israel.

Israel has "categorically" rejected the inquiry's report, describing it as "distorted and false" and calling for the body's abolition.