South Africa’s ruling party endorses the idea of ending relations with Israel

The Israeli regime’s “genocidal actions” were condemned by the African National Congress as something it could not endorse.

The ruling party in South Africa has said that it will back a vote to close Israel’s embassy in Pretoria and terminate diplomatic ties with the country. Officials from South Africa have denounced Israel’s attack on Gaza and have even demanded a formal investigation into war crimes.

African National Congress (ANC) spokesman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri stated in remarks on Thursday that the party would adopt legislation to sever ties with Israel unless it consented to a ceasefire, which was first proposed by the Economic Freedom Fighters, a Marxist opposition group.

The spokeswoman declared, “We cannot stand by and watch the Israeli regime commit acts of genocide.” “A parliamentary motion calling on the government to close the Israel embassy in South Africa and suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel will be approved by the African National Congress.”

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President Cyril Ramaphosa of South Africa declared on Wednesday that he had forwarded Israel to the International Criminal Court (ICC) for a war crimes investigation. He added that the proposal was made “together with many other countries.” Previously, his administration has pointed to “genocidal airstrikes” on Gaza and “the refusal of the Israeli government to respect international law.”

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South Africa is among the growing number of countries to sever diplomatic ties with Israel due to the latter’s bombing assault, which has killed over 11,500 Palestinians over several weeks, according to local officials. Ramaphosa did not identify the other counties supporting the complaint.

Bolivia said earlier this month that it has severed ties with the Jewish state over accusations of “crimes against humanity.” Belize and Bahrain also followed suit. Meanwhile, diplomats from Israel have been recalled by Chad, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Jordan, and Turkey. Later, South Africa did the same, removing diplomatic personnel from Tel Aviv “for consultation.”

The ANC has compared Israel’s decades-long occupation of Palestinian land to South Africa’s apartheid, a two-tiered legal system intended to maintain the country’s white minority in positions of power and influence. Pretoria has long expressed support for the Palestinians.

Following an attack on October 7 by the Palestinian militant group, Hamas in Gaza claimed the lives of almost 1,200 Israelis, the majority of them civilians, Israel began a military operation against the group. According to the Israeli army, it makes every effort to reduce the number of civilian casualties and does not intentionally target non-combatants.