Supporters of South Africa’s ruling African National Congress (ANC) and various political parties, including civil society groups, gather in solidarity with the Palestinian people outside the Israeli embassy in Pretoria, South Africa, October 20, 2023. Portal/Siphiwe Sibeko/File Photo Acquire Licensing right
CAPE TOWN, Nov 21 (Portal) – South African lawmakers voted on Tuesday to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspend all diplomatic ties until a ceasefire is agreed in the war with the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas in Gaza.
The resolution is largely symbolic, as it is left to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government whether to implement it. A spokesman for the presidency said Ramaphosa “notes and welcomes Parliament’s guidance on South Africa’s diplomatic relations with Israel”, particularly on the status of the embassy.
“The President and Cabinet are addressing the matter, which remains the responsibility of the national executive,” Vincent Magwenya said.
Ramaphosa and senior Foreign Ministry officials have loudly criticized Israel’s leadership during its devastating military operation against Hamas in the densely populated Gaza Strip and called on the International Criminal Court to investigate them for possible war crimes.
The Israeli embassy did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
On Monday, Israel’s ambassador in Pretoria was recalled to Tel Aviv for consultations ahead of the vote, which was passed on Tuesday by a majority of 248 votes to 91.
The parliamentary resolution was tabled last week by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF) party as the ruling African National Congress pledged to support South Africa’s key diplomatic stance since Nelson Mandela became the country’s first democratically elected president in 1994.
ANC leader Pemmy Majodina amended the last point of the EFF draft resolution, which called for embassy closure and diplomatic suspension, to read: “…until Israel agrees to a ceasefire and Israel commits to a binding ceasefire. “Negotiations supported by the United Nations, the outcome of which must be a just, sustainable and lasting peace.”
South Africa has supported the Palestinian demand for statehood in Israeli-occupied territories for decades and compares the plight of Palestinians to that of the black majority during the repressive apartheid era, a comparison Israel vehemently denies.
The EFF tabled the motion on Thursday in solidarity with the Palestinian people over the Israeli bombing and invasion of the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, sparked by a deadly incursion into Israel by Hamas militants on October 7.
Reporting by Wendell Roelf; Edited by Mark Heinrich and Jonathan Oatis
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