South African Jews for a Free Palestine (SAJFP) notes the decisive action by the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) in expelling Israel’s Chargé d’Affaires, Ariel Seidman, for repeated violations of diplomatic norms and a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty. This step, prompted by Israeli insults directed at President Ramaphosa and a deliberate flouting of protocol, is a justified assertion of our nation’s dignity.
However, the cynical response from the South African Zionist Federation (SAZF)—which falsely frames this diplomatic defence of sovereignty as an attack on humanitarian aid—reveals the very contempt for South Africa that made the expulsion necessary. The SAZF’s statement is a deliberate distraction from Israel’s criminal actions and its disdain for international law and the South African state.
While we support this expulsion, we must call out the hypocrisy that undermines South Africa’s moral stance. Our government rightly took Israel to the International Court of Justice (ICJ), presenting overwhelming evidence of genocidal acts and intent against the Palestinian people in Gaza. Yet, even as it pursues this historic case, South Africa continues to trade with Israel, implicating itself in the very crimes it prosecutes.
Most egregiously, since the instituting of a coal embargo against Israel by Colombia, South Africa has become the largest provider of coal to Israel, primarily through the company Glencore. The ICJ itself lists coal as a dual-use item, essential for both domestic and military purposes. This trade directly contravenes the ICJ’s ruling of July 2024, which ordered states to halt “aid or assistance in maintaining the situation created by Israel’s illegal presence in the Occupied Palestinian Territory.” It also defies the will of the international community, as expressed in the UN General Assembly vote (124 for, 14 against) calling on states to “prevent trade or investment relations that assist in the maintenance of the illegal situation.”
We cannot credibly accuse Israel of genocide at the world’s highest court while simultaneously fueling its economy and, by extension, its war machine. To do so compromises both our case and our diplomatic stand.
In its recent statement, the SAZF is correct, but only on one point: this is “all about Israel.” It is about Israel’s decades-long occupation, apartheid, and now genocide of the Palestinian people. It is about Israel’s brazen contempt for South Africa’s sovereignty, its diplomatic processes, and its right to recognise the State of Palestine. Maintaining diplomatic relations with such a state is a farce, as is trading with it while seeking to hold it accountable for genocide.
Therefore, while we commend the expulsion of the Chargé d’Affaires, we call on the South African government to act with full consistency and moral courage. We demand that South Africa:
- Immediately and completely sever all diplomatic ties with the State of Israel.
- Impose an immediate and comprehensive embargo on all trade with Israel, beginning with the cessation of all coal exports.
It is time to end the farce. It is time to align our actions with our principles, our legal arguments, and our historic duty. South Africa must end all ties with Israel.