All agree to downgrade SA embassy in Israel
The ANC international relations commission came to a unanimous agreement to approve a policy that will see the South African embassy in Israel being downgraded.
At the time of writing, the commission had not reported back to plenary at the party’s 54th elective conference. The commission was among those that deliberated until late in the afternoon.
Faiez Jacobs, secretary of the ANC in the Western Cape, was in the meeting and expressed confidence that the policy would be approved “because there was a unanimous position. We were all clear we want strong and firm action.”
In July, the ANC’s national policy conference decided to adopt a resolution made by the ANC in the Western Cape to downgrade South Africa’s embassy in Israel because of the expansion of Israeli settlements into Palestinian territories. The decision comes at a time when international attention is once again on Israel and Palestine following remarks by United States President Donald Trump, who declared Jerusalem to be Israel’s capital.
The United Nations general assembly is now due to vote for or against the withdrawal of Trump’s recognition of Jerusalem in an “emergency meeting” on Thursday, after the US vetoed a vote it lost on the same issue at the UN Security Council.
Delegates from Hamas and the South African Board of Jewish Deputies attended the opening of the ANC’s elective conference. Hamas had previously released a statement saying that the resolution would take South African solidarity with Palestine to a “new level”, and the Board of Jewish Deputies rejected the move, saying it would have “dire consequences” for South Africa’s economy.
At its elective conference in 2012, the ANC approved a policy to boycott Israel but it was never implemented by government.