South Africa’s Foreign Minister announced that the country will not be returning its ambassador to Israel in the near future. “I’m very glad that I recalled the ambassador because we could not have been in the situation that we are at now. It’s been a violation that has been going on for a long time, and we can’t be looking away,” said the International Relations Minister Lindiwe Sisulu during an interview with South African media last week.

“We are holding back on our ambassador until we are certain that we are making headway. For us, this is an unacceptable situation, completely unacceptable.”

The Foreign Ministry of Israel declined to comment.

South African Ambassador Sisa Ngombane was recalled to Pretoria on May 14. The recalling was done in protest of the deaths of at least 55 Palestinians, many of them were later identified to be Hamas terrorists. The Palestinians were killed near the Gaza border fence in violent clashes when many of them were rioting and attempting to break through the fence to the Israeli side of the border to carry out attacks on military personnel and civilians.

At the time of the incident, a statement from the country’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation read: “The South African government condemns in the strongest terms possible the latest act of violent aggression carried out by Israeli armed forces along the Gaza border‚ which has led to the deaths of over 40 civilians. The victims were taking part in peaceful protests against the provocative inauguration of the US Embassy in Jerusalem. The latest attack has resulted in scores of other Palestinian citizens reported injured, and the wanton destruction of property. Given the indiscriminate and grave manner of the latest Israeli attack‚ the South African government has taken a decision to recall Ambassador Sisa Ngombane with immediate effect until further notice.”

South African Jewish leaders said the government’s decision was outrageous.

“While we, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the SA Zionist Federation, regret the loss of life of civilians, we recognize that Israel as a sovereign state has the right to defend its own border and its own citizens. Israel is facing a real danger with the incitement by Hamas of its own population to storm the security fence and attack Israeli civilians.”

“By withdrawing its ambassador,” the statement made by the Jewish leaders said,  “South Africa is essentially walking away from playing any meaningful role in finding a sorely needed resolution to the conflict. The rhetoric used by the government has already has spilled into anti-Semitic comments on various social media platforms and the biggest losers are the South African Jewish community and other peace-loving South Africans. This is a victory only for extremism in the Middle East. We call on the South African Government to reconsider its decision immediately.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)