31 January 2024

858. Ms S B Lehihi (North West: EFF) to ask the Minister of International Relations and Cooperation:

(a) What measures are in place to suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel and (b) what are the further relevant details in this regard?

REPLY:

(a) and (b): The following diplomatic interventions have so far been taken by the South African Government:

- On 1 November 2023, the Cabinet of the Government of South Africa, took a decision to recall all its diplomats at the Embassy of South Africa in Tel Aviv for consultations in South Africa due to the Israeli Government’s violation of international law in its war on Gaza and its continued undermining of the United Nations resolutions on the Palestine Question.

- On 9 November 2023, the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) démarched the Ambassador of the State of Israel to South Africa, HE Mr Eliav Belotsercovsky, to express grave concerns amid a rise in civilian casualties from this war. Subsequently, the Israeli Ambassador to South Africa had been recalled to Israel.

- On 17 November 2023, South Africa, along with other States Parties, i.e., Bangladesh, Bolivia, Venezuela, Comoros, and Djibouti, referred the situation in the State of Palestine to the Office of the Prosecutor (OTP) of the International Criminal Court (ICC), pursuant to Article 14 of the Rome Statute.

The referral was delivered in person by South Africa’s ambassador in the Hague.

- On 21 November 2023, HE President Ramaphosa hosted an extra-ordinary summit of BRICS Leaders and Partners, to secure a common position in ending the violence and securing an unhindered humanitarian corridor into Gaza as an immediate measure and simultaneously reviving the Middle East Peace Process.

The outcomes of the BRICS Leaders and Partners summit was followed by South Africa’s hosting of an extra-ordinary conference of African Union (AU) Heads of State and Former, from 27-28 November 2023 in Tshwane, Pretoria, with the aim to galvanise support from AU Member States on the situation in Gaza.

- On 21 November 2023, the National Assembly voted for a motion calling for the closure of the Israel Embassy in South Africa and the suspension of all diplomatic ties until a ceasefire is agreed to by Israel as well as commits to binding United Nations (UN) facilitated negotiations whose outcome must be a just, sustainable, and lasting peaceful solution to the conflict. Cabinet is yet to make a pronouncement on the way forward in this regard.