Sydney police deployed pepper spray and scuffled with protesters on Monday as a rally against a visit to Australia by Israel's President Isaac Herzog turned violent.

Herzog's tightly secured, four-day visit was aimed at consoling Australia's Jewish community in the wake of the December shooting at Sydney's Bondi Beach that killed 15 people at a Hanukkah festival.

But he was met with protests in Australia's two largest cities on Monday evening, with a Sydney rally turning violent as police hit protesters and members of the media, with pepper spray.

A journalist said at least 15 protesters had been seen being arrested and scuffling with police.

Crowds also gathered in the centre of Melbourne demanding an end to Israel's "occupation" of the Palestinian territories.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese had urged people to be respectful of the reason for Herzog's visit, saying he would join the president to meet with the families of those killed at Bondi Beach.

The New South Wales state government invoked new powers giving police greater powers to control demonstrations.

And an attempt by protesters to overturn those powers in the state's Supreme Court failed just before the rally began, local media said.

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". (AFP)