President Cyril Ramaphosa
- The SA Jewish Board of Deputies and President Cyril Ramaphosa met in Pretoria on Wednesday.
- During the meeting, the organisation called for renewed diplomacy with Israel.
- It also called on Ramaphosa to speak against the boycott of Israeli and Jewish business in South Africa.
President Cyril Ramaphosa met the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) at his presidential residence, Mahlamba Ndlopfu, in Pretoria on Wednesday to discuss the county’s stance on the Israeli–Palestinian conflict.
The SAJBD made requests relating to diplomatic recognition of Israel and to the boycott of Israeli and Jewish businesses in South Africa.
With regard to the first issue, the SAJBD petitioned Ramaphosa to restore full diplomatic recognition of Israel, including the reopening of the South African embassy in Tel Aviv, and to assure that the Israeli embassy in Pretoria will not close to enable the Israeli ambassador’s return to South Africa.
News24 previously reported that Israel’s foreign ministry recalled its South African ambassador after South Africa recalled its diplomatic staff from Israel.
At the time, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies reacted with anger at the perceived ill-treatment of the ambassador, saying that the government had shown hostility toward him.
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With regard to the second issue, the SAJBD called on the president to speak against the boycott of Israeli and Jewish businesses in South Africa and protect the South African Jewish community against antisemitic incidents and attacks.
The SAJBD previously said antisemitism in South Africa had “increased nearly tenfold” and was being “fuelled by inflammatory rhetoric by some in political leadership”, according to a News24 report.
This picture taken from a position in southern Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip shows a blaze in the Palestinian territory, amid ongoing battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement.
The organisation said there were as many as 80 incidents in six weeks and compared the surge to campaigns by “local Nazi-supporting white groupings” in the 1930s.
Commenting on Wednesday’s discussion, presidential spokesperson Vincent Magwenya said Ramaphosa reiterated the South African government’s position on the situation in the region.
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He added that South Africa stood with the people of Palestine “who have endured over seven decades of apartheid type of brutal occupation”.
Magwenya added that the country condemned the October attack by Hamas on Israeli citizens, including women and children, and called for all hostages to be released.
South Africa condemned the “genocide that is being inflicted against the people of Palestine” through the bombardment of Gaza and called for the immediate cessation of hostilities, Magwenya said, as well as the resumption of negotiations between Palestinians and Israel.
South Africa also called on the International Criminal Court to investigate all the atrocities and war crimes committed in the region.
Magwenya said:
President Ramaphosa indicated that the South African diplomats based in Tel Aviv will remain in South Africa for consultations during the current state of conflict. However, the government will endeavour to make available all the necessary support that is required by South African citizens in need of assistance.
He added that the government denounced antisemitic behaviour and appealed to South Africans to “remain true to the tenets of the country’s Constitution”.
The conflict in the Middle Eastern region intensified after an October attack by Hamas on southern Israel.
Israel retaliated with widespread bombing throughout the Gaza strip.
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