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Need for dialogue as trade still continues, says top diplomat
The South African flag projected onto the facade of the Union Buildings. Picture: GCIS.
The Israeli government wants to start a dialogue with the SA government in an attempt to resolve their differences, but Pretoria has closed doors to talks, according to an Israeli envoy.
David Saranga, an Israeli diplomat on a visit to South Africa, said the International Court of Justice (ICJ) matter was the biggest challenge in the relationship between the countries.
South Africa has no embassy in Israel, so South Africans living in Israel have no consular services.
Yet there are significant volumes of trade between SA and Israel.
In an interview with The Citizen in Pretoria, Saranga, who is director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Jerusalem, said: “We may not see things in the same way, but there is need to have this dialogue.
I don’t think it will be easy to reach an understanding on certain topics because we don’t see things in the same way, but we have to bridge this gap.”
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Challenges in South Africa-Israel relations
Saranga has held a wide range of diplomatic postings, including being senior advisor to President Reuven Rivlin, acting deputy director-general for public diplomacy, Israeli ambassador to Romania, deputy ambassador to Bucharest, director of the EU Parliament liaison department, consul for media and public affairs at the Israel Consulate in New York and director of public affairs and spokesperson at the Israeli Embassy in Madrid, Spain.
“People in South Africa have very positive sentiments towards Israel. But when it comes to government, we see a harsh line,” Saranga said.
As well as the ICJ case, South Africa’s relations with Iran and Pretoria’s posture on the Gaza issue are other causes of tension.
Saranga said although the South African ambassador left Israel, the Israeli embassy in Pretoria continued to function under the chargé d’affaires.
But International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola’s spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said SA supported the ICJ investigation into Hamas’ alleged war crimes committed against Israeli and victims of other nationalities on 7 October, 2023.
“We unequivocally condemned these attacks – but these attacks, heinous as they are, can never justify Israeli genocide against Palestinians in Gaza,” Phiri said.
Citing Amnesty International statistics, Phiri expressed concern about the continued “deliberate indiscriminate attacks often wiping out entire multigenerational families on the occupied Palestinian territory”.
“Our support for the Palestinian people’s right to self-determination pursuant to the two-state solution is well documented.
“In relation to Iran, our position that states nuclear capacity should be limited to peaceful use is not only well documented, it is consistent,” Phiri said.
He said statements made by a large number of Israeli senior politicians and top state officials, and subsequent actions that led to the deaths of thousands of children and civilians “are rightfully before the ICJ”.
Saranga said Israeli bombing of Iran’s nuclear facilities was justified and urged all countries that supported peace and stability in the Middle East to support the Israeli position in carrying out the attacks.
He added: “Iran is a tyranny; human rights and gay rights are not respected in Iran and this is an issue that countries should raise against Iran.”
The Iranian embassy in Pretoria said it would respond at a later date to Saranga’s claims.
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