South Africa’s Ruling Party Backs Cutting Ties with “Israel”

By Staff, Agencies

South Africa’s ruling party announced that it will support a motion to sever diplomatic relations with the “Israeli” entity and shut down its embassy in Pretoria. South African officials have condemned “Israel’s” assault on Gaza, even calling for a formal war crimes probe.

In comments on Thursday, African National Congress [ANC] spokeswoman Mahlengi Bhengu-Motsiri said the party would approve legislation to cut ties with “Israel” until it agreed to a ceasefire, originally introduced by leftist opposition faction the Economic Freedom Fighters.

“We cannot sit back and watch the genocidal actions of the ‘Israeli’ regime,” the spokeswoman said. “The African National Congress will agree to a parliamentary motion which calls upon the government to close the ‘Israel’ embassy in South Africa and suspend all diplomatic relations with ‘Israel’.”

On Wednesday, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa announced that he had referred “Israel” for a war crimes investigation by the International Criminal Court [ICC], noting that the recommendation was brought “together with many other countries.” His administration had previously cited “the refusal of the ‘Israeli’ government to respect international law,” and “genocidal airstrikes” on Gaza.

While Ramaphosa did not name the other states behind the complaint, South Africa is among a growing list of nations to scale back diplomatic ties with ‘Israel’ over its aggression on Gaza.

Earlier this month, Bolivia said it had cut relations with the apartheid entity after accusing it of “crimes against humanity,” a move mirrored by Belize and Bahrain. Chad, Chile, Colombia, Honduras, Jordan and Turkey, meanwhile, have each recalled diplomats from “Israel”. South Africa later followed suit, pulling diplomatic staff out of Tel Aviv “for consultation.”