South Africans in the Israel Defense Forces or those serving alongside them in Gaza will be arrested when they return home, the country’s top diplomat said this week in another sign of the growing rift between the two countries.
South Africa accused Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip and leveled formal charges against them in the U.N.’s high court. Now, South African Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor said its citizens in the IDF are complicit.
“Those who are South African and who are fighting alongside or in the Israeli Defense Force: We are ready. When you come home, we are going to arrest you,” Mrs. Pandor said at a recent Palestinian solidarity rally attended by many members of the country’s ruling African National Congress party.
Under South African law, anyone planning to “render foreign military assistance” to Israel must first apply to the government’s National Conventional Arms Control Committee which will then recommend to the Ministry of Defense that an application be granted or refused.
“Any person joining the IDF without the necessary permission of the NCACC is breaking the law and can be prosecuted,” South Africa‘s foreign ministry, known as the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said in December 2023. The declaration came about two months after Hamas launched a cross-border terrorist rampage killing at least 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 people hostage.
“Pandor and South Africa‘s government have been among Hamas’ greatest supporters, blaming the Jewish state for Hamas’ attacks and serving as the terrorist group’s lawyer” at the International Court of Justice, said David May, a senior research analyst at the Foundation for Defense of Democracies think tank.
“Now, Pretoria is turning its sights on South Africa‘s Jewish citizens,” Mr. May said.
According to the U.K.-based Institute for Jewish Policy Research, South Africa has a Jewish population of about 51,000. The South African government has been a vocal critic of Israel even before it launched the IDF incursion into the Gaza Strip.
Mrs. Pandor compared Palestinian attacks on Israelis to South Africa‘s fight against apartheid.
“We didn’t ‘meet’ the Palestinian people on Oct. 8. We’ve been together in a struggle for many, many decades. The people of Palestine trained the freedom fighters of the liberation movement,” Mrs. Pandor said Sunday in her address. “This is a relationship of freedom fighters, of activists, of nations that share a history — a history of struggle for justice and freedom.”
South Africa has bolstered ties with China, Russia and Iran during the presidency of Cyril Ramaphosa. It abstained from condemning Moscow for invading Ukraine and blamed NATO for causing the ongoing war there.
• Mike Glenn can be reached at mglenn@washingtontimes.com.