The SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) has lamented what it calls the “demarche against the Israeli ambassador” to South Africa.
This comes after the government withdrew South Africa’s diplomats from Israel and the African National Congress (ANC) insisted the Israeli ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, be instructed to leave.
A statement released on Thursday by the national chairperson of the SA Jewish Board of Deputies, Prof Karen Milner, said this move “is just the latest in a long line of pro-Hamas actions by the SA government”.
“As is becoming ever more apparent, this is no longer about supporting the Palestinians. Rather, it amounts to unambiguous support for a genocidal organisation that has never deviated from its core aim of violently destroying the state and people of Israel,” said Milner.
The SAJBD said the country is aligning itself with Hamas and has abandoned support for a negotiated two-state solution.
It also posed a question to Minister of International Relations and Cooperation Naledi Pandor on why the ambassador was not contacted after Hamas' attack on Israeli settlements on October 7.
The SAJBD has lodged an application under the Public Access to Information Act (PAIA) to ensure that the details of what exactly was said during a conversation between Pandor and Hamas leader Ismael Haniyeh are clarified and made public.
Milner said the “hostility” that the Department of International Relations and Cooperation has displayed towards the SAJBD “for daring to speak truth to power” should be condemned.
“Particularly at this time when anti-Semitism both locally and abroad is escalating to ever more dangerous levels, it displays a flagrant disregard for the legitimate concerns of South Africa’s Jewish citizens, leaving them feeling vulnerable and unprotected in the face of real threats to their lives and safety," concluded Milner.
IOL