South Africa's parliament has voted in favor of a motion that seeks to shut down the Israeli embassy located in Pretoria as well as the suspension of ties over the Middle Eastern nation's assault on Gaza.
The action is seen as largely symbolic because it would be up to South African President Cyril Ramaphosa's government to choose whether or not to implement it. The motion is calling for the closure of the embassy and the suspension of diplomatic relations until a ceasefire is reached. It passed on Tuesday with 248 votes in favor and 91 votes against.
South Africa Votes To Shut Down Israeli Embassy
It was introduced by the left-wing opposition party Economic Freedom Fighters and was supported by the ruling African National Congress. The groups that opposed the motion were members of the centrist, white-majority, largely pro-Israel Democratic Alliance.
President Ramaphosa had previously said that his country believes that Israel is committing war crimes and genocide with its continuous assault on the Gaza Strip. This is the region where Palestinian authorities have said more than 14,100 people were killed due to Jerusalem's air and ground assault, as per Aljazeera.
The war between Israel and the Hamas militant group in Gaza was triggered when the Palestinian armed group made a surprise attack on the former's southern region on Oct. 7. It was reported to have resulted in the deaths of roughly 1,200 people.
The recent vote to shut down the Israeli embassy in Pretoria was held after Israel announced that it would recall Ambassador Eli Belotserkovsky from the region "for consultations." The African country has not had an ambassador in Israel since 2018 and has long been in support of the Palestinian cause for statehood.
Several Palestinian rights groups have drawn parallels between Israeli's occupation and South Africa's decades-long apartheid regime. There have also been a growing number of international rights groups in recent years that said Israeli policies towards the Palestinians constitute the crime of apartheid.
The spokesperson to the presidency, Vincent Magwenya said that Ramaphosa and the cabinet are engaged over the matter. He added that the issue remains the responsibility of the national executive, according to Reuters.
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Supporting Palestinian Cause for Statehood
The South African president and senior foreign ministry officials have been vocally critical of Israel's leadership in recent weeks. They have also called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to investigate them for potential war crimes.
Ramaphosa's latest comments regarding Israel were made in a virtual meeting of BRICS countries. It was attended by leaders of the bloc, including Russian President Vladimir Putin and Chinese President Xi Jinping, said the Associated Press.
Pemmy Majodina, the chief whip of the ANC, amended the last point of the EFF draft resolution to include words that require a ceasefire to be agreed by Israel. It also noted that the Middle Eastern nation needs to commit to binding United Nations-facilitated negotiations.
In a social media post on Tuesday, the South African president said that they have demonstrated their grave concern at the death and destruction in Gaza. He wanted the BRICS meeting to stand as a clarion call to coordinate and strengthen actions to end the "historical injustice."
