South Africans don’t hate Israel – far from it!

We have a majority party in South Africa that took Israel to the International Court of Justice on charges of genocide, so we can be certain that the African National Congress (ANC) doesn’t like Israel. It has done so much to make its animosity towards the Jewish state known to us and the world at large.

However, for so long, Jewish leaders – both Israeli and South African – have waxed lyrical about how real South Africans have a soft spot for Israel. I was never sure whether that was legitimate or just an attempt to try to make us all feel better.

However, during my very brief interview with visiting Israeli Ambassador David Saranga, he mentioned in passing that this was indeed the case, according to recent research. I asked for the research, only to find it was done by the prestigious Washington-based Pew Research Center. Over the years, I have trusted Pew for solid and strong research. I know it to be, as its value statement claims, a non-partisan fact tank that informs the public about the issues, attitudes, and trends shaping the world.

The survey was on attitudes towards Israel and its Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The research showed that across 24 countries, most have negative views of Israel and Netanyahu. As many as 28 333 adults were surveyed between January and April this year.

So, while most of those countries were opposed to Israel, South Africa was far from the worst. Though South Africa certainly had many who held unfavourable views on the Jewish state – as many as half surveyed – as a country, it had among the topmost favourable views of those surveyed.

The United States, Hungary, Kenya, and Nigeria were more favourable than us towards Israel, and we tied with India in our sentiments. This was the proof I needed to acknowledge that so many South Africans do indeed have good feelings about the Jewish state. Perhaps it’s due to the country being so strongly Christian, I can’t say, but it inspires me and gives me such a positive sense of why we are here.

South Africans like Israel far more than most European and Far Eastern countries, according to the research. Kenya, and Nigeria and South Africa were the only African countries surveyed. Considering these three countries were representative of Africa, our continent was by far the keenest one on Israel. More so that is, than North America or Europe. So much for our government’s views!

I guess that’s why the anti-Israel election campaign fell so flat in the past elections. Clearly, the ANC isn’t reading the country’s allegiances.

Looking at countries where there has recently been a huge uptick in violent antisemitism, like Australia, anti-Israel sentiment goes way up to 74%, while anti-Israel sentiment in Netherlands is 78%, and in Turkey 93%.

I respect that statistics can be skewed, and I’m not blind to the negative attitude many do have towards Israel, but this research has given me a boost, and helped me understand why South African Jews are generally allowed to live our lives as we choose and follow our religious path without any interference.

I reiterate that this doesn’t mean that there isn’t antisemitism here and that everyone loves Israel, but I’m saying that there are more people in this country who do like Israel than I believed was the case.

When it comes to supporting Netanyahu, South Africans’ favour drops quite a lot. But that, in my opinion, is totally acceptable. Everybody is entitled to their opinion of leaders. They may like some and not others. Some are more popular than others, but blanket dislike of a country – any country – is problematic.

So, when we turn our heads to the University of Cape Town (UCT), where we watch what I consider to be a lunatic fringe apparently destroying this proud establishment, it sickens me.

I do believe that it’s a few hateful individuals who are holding UCT to ransom to prove a point. Unfortunately, their point – which appears ultimately to be to get rid of Jews – will destroy the university. They are already chipping away at it.

Sadly, fewer of our youngsters want to go there, favouring other universities like Stellenbosch, Wits, University of Johannesburg, and Tuks. At those universities, Jews don’t feel threatened.

For many years, UCT was known for its large Jewish contingent. So much so that in the 1910s, UCT’s students, particularly the sports teams, were nicknamed “Ikeys” – an antisemitic epithet – by Stellenbosch students because of the large number of Jews there.

Unfortunately, if the Council and executive committee don’t do some serious backtracking, not only will the remaining Jewish students leave, but so will many others. Who wants to be at a university with such prejudice and hatefulness? (See page 4.) That’s hardly upholding academic freedom.

In the same breath, seeing that President Cyril Ramaphosa’s National Dialogue is apparently going to be led by Dr Imtiaz Sooliman, who has been so openly antisemitic, is horrendous. In what world is it okay to appoint a person so clearly biased and hateful to a certain element of the country to be in charge of an organisation encouraging all citizens to engage in dialogue? How does that enable Jews to participate? It doesn’t.

More and more, I question Ramaphosa’s sentiments towards us. Once he was a friend, an openminded potential great leader. However, unfortunately, there is so much water under the bridge to prove that he is not a friend – far from it. He has alienated us to such a degree, I hardly believe there’s room for discussion.

In his speech about the National Dialogue, Ramaphosa says, “We should not fear criticism. We should welcome it.” He is talking about encouraging people to be open about where they think they can help South Africa improve.

Well, Mr President, let’s start with finding people who are unbiased and not full of hatred for certain members of your population to lead this National Dialogue. There can be no genuine dialogue otherwise.

Having said that, it’s an inspirational idea, and one that we need in this country. So, make the necessary changes, and let’s get on with it.

At the SA Jewish Report, we liked the idea so much, we came up with our own National Jewish Dialogue, which is gaining traction. See the guidelines, and get participating in this project.

Shabbat shalom!

Peta Krost

Editor