It came as no surprise to South Africans that South Africa strongly condemned Israel's actions and declared its unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, but many were left wondering what motivated it, and experts Households say the ANC will exploit the Gaza war to gain votes. In a lawsuit brought by SA, the International Court of Justice found that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide against Israel. ALSO READ: Gaza is off-limits for MP Steenhuisen Independent political and economic analyst Daniel Silke said relations between the ANC and the Israeli state had always been tense.
While it came as no surprise to South Africans that South Africa strongly condemned Israel's actions and declared unwavering support for the Palestinian cause, many were left wondering what motivated it, and experts Households say the ANC will exploit the Gaza war to gain votes.
In a lawsuit brought by SA, the International Court of Justice found that Israel's actions in Gaza amounted to genocide against Israel.
Also read: Prosecutor General Steenhuisen banned from entering Gaza
Independent political and economic analyst Daniel Silke said relations between the ANC and the state of Israel have always been tense, “and not only because the ANC has close emotional ties to the Palestinian cause.” Ta.
“Also because during the apartheid era Israel was seen as not standing up well enough against liberation movements…and in fact did cooperate militarily with the white minority government of the time,” he said. Stated.
“These old grudges against the State of Israel, [and many Western countries] I continue to do so to this day,” he said.
“But clearly the ANC in particular has found an issue that resonates with the majority of voters within South Africa, despite the moral overtones of South Africa's position.”
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Mr. Silke said that when a country has not had great domestic policy successes, “when its own governance is largely disappointing and a general election is coming up, the ANC finds external issues that resonate with voters. “The voters are trying to be exploited,” he said. Use this issue for domestic political purposes and campaigns. ”
“By linking the ANC with liberation movements and oppression and the fight against what they see as oppression globally, the Palestinian cause will of course be seen as an important example of that,” Silke said.
“So this is a foreign policy issue that is used domestically.”Historically, foreign policy issues may be good in the short term. They tend to vote based on whether the future prospects are good or not.
Meanwhile, Ronak Gopaldas and Priyal Singh of the Institute for Security Studies wrote in a note that “South Africa's ICJ case is already changing its foreign policy space,” saying that the world's reaction to South Africa's actions is He said it reflected both criticism and support, praising its principled and clear actions. stance in front of you.
Also read: Amnesty International says Israel needs to follow ICJ orders to prevent massacre in Gaza
According to the authors, the incident thrust Pretoria into the center of international legal turmoil and “will have significant ramifications for international relations.”
Why did South Africa choose this course of action, given the potentially significant diplomatic risks? “Legally, South Africa, as a party to the Genocide Convention, can do so if it believes that the Convention has been breached. can be brought to the ICJ.”
Gopaldas and Singh said. “Apart from that, Pretoria's support for the Palestinian cause is deeply rooted in democratic South Africa's foreign policy.
“Due to the country's apartheid history, the Palestinian cause is primarily seen as analogous to Palestine's own struggle against oppression, occupation, and violence.”
