South Africa: Parliament votes to suspend diplomatic ties with Israel, shut embassy

 


ABC News

Nov 21, 2023. Posted by  Balkan Periscope - Hellas

South African lawmakers voted on Tuesday in favor of closing down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspending all diplomatic relations until a ceasefire is agreed in the country’s war with Palestinian terrorist organization Hamas in Gaza. 


The day prior, Israel’s ambassador was recalled from his post for consultations after the vote had been announced.

The resolution is largely symbolic as it will be up to President Cyril Ramaphosa’s government whether to implement it.

But Ramaphosa and senior foreign ministry officials have been vocally critical of Israel’s leadership during its devastating military campaign against Hamas in the densely populated Gaza Strip, calling on the International Criminal Court to investigate them for potential war crimes.

On Monday, the Israeli ambassador in Pretoria was recalled to Tel Aviv for consultations ahead of the vote, which on Tuesday was resoundingly adopted by a 248-91 margin.

The bulk of the vote in favor came from the ruling social-democratic African National Congress (ANC) and the opposition far-left (Marxist-Leninist) Economic Freedom Fighters (EFF), with the latter being the one to initiate the motion.

The votes against came from MPs representing the center-to-right-wing parties: Democratic Alliance (liberal), the Inkatha Freedom Party (KwaZulu regionalists, conservative), Freedom Front Plus (Afrikaner minority), and the African Christian Democratic Party (conservative).

 EFF brought forward the motion (later amended by ANC) on Thursday last week when the ANC pledged to support what has been a central diplomatic stance for South Africa since in 1994 Nelson Mandela became the country’s first president to be elected with the participation of the country’s Black majority after decades of White minority rule.


South Africa has backed the Palestinian cause for statehood in Israeli-controlled territories for decades, likening the plight of Palestinians to those of the Black majority during the repressive apartheid era, a comparison Israel vehemently refutes.

--