CAPE TOWN, South Africa – According to the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), the government’s decision to deport the Israeli ambassador to South Africa proves that it is collaborating with Hamas, the Islamic resistance movement that controls Gaza.
While International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor on Wednesday said that there was no intention at this time to expel Eliav Belotserkovsky from the country, the SAJBD says he’s being bullied.
Cabinet announced this week that it deemed his comments about South Africans in support of the plight of Palestinians untenable and it instructed Pandor to take appropriate action.
But the SA Jewish Board of Deputies chairperson, Karen Milner, says Pandor should rather have reached out to the ambassador a month ago when 1,400 Israeli civilians were killed.
“It is a petty act of bullying because the Israeli ambassador dared to criticize the pro-Hamas stance taken by the minister and DIRCO.”
Milner says the demarche against the Israeli ambassador shows that the government is pro-Hamas and that its support for Palestinians is, in fact, support for a genocidal organization.
“It is time for South Africa to take its place in the world in a mature manner and call for the release of the Israeli hostages in Gaza as a first step to a lasting sustainable peace in the region.”
On Tuesday, Pandor spelled out a seven-point action plan to end hostilities in the region, which includes the release of civilian hostages on both sides.
Watch Her speak:
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