Helping South Africans stranded in Israel

We’re all watching and holding our collective breath as the ceasefire between Iran and Israel appears to be holding. We mourn the dead, and pray for the speedy recovery of all those injured as well as the swift reconstruction of damaged and destroyed property, including homes, a hospital, and a mosque.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies has been working to support fellow South Africans stranded in Israel, and to assist them to reach home as soon as the skies reopen safely for flights. To date, we have registered 220 citizens for repatriation flights, and are co-ordinating logistics with the extraordinary support of Ethiopian Airlines.

Ethiopian Airlines was an incredible support to our community during the darkest days of the COVID-19 pandemic. We cannot overstate our gratitude to it for its availability and commitment to aid us through this latest crisis. Our team works closely with Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs and other communities in the planning of these flights.

We believe that the past weeks have again exposed the implications of the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO’s) knee-jerk closure of our embassy/consulate in Israel. There’s no doubt that as citizens of South Africa, we should be offered consular support in the same way offered to South African citizens in Iran. The glaring inconsistency in our government’s approach is deeply troubling. We continue to call for accountability, urging DIRCO to uphold its duty to all South Africans, irrespective of where they find themselves

Amidst this turmoil, we are also once again profoundly moved to learn of the recovery of the bodies of former hostages Yonatan Samerano, Ofra Keidar, and Shay Levinson in a perilous and daring operation. The successful recovery gave closure to the families, though it serves as a stark reminder of the ongoing challenges of the hostage crisis. We continue to pray for the immediate release of the remaining 50 hostages, even as the war in Iran dominates global headlines.

We are, indeed, living in extraordinary times. While we continue to criticise the government for its failures in this regard and its hypocrisy regarding human rights and liberal values, especially as it pertains to Iran and its regime, we nevertheless are steadfast in upholding our mandate to protect the rights, safety, and liberties of our community members, wherever they may be.