South Africa’s parliament has voted to downgrade the status of the country’s embassy in Israel. The resolution that passed on Wednesday by a vote of 209 to 94 was proposed by the National Freedom Party (NFP), which holds only two seats, but allied with the ruling African National Congress party to push the resolution through. There are 400 members of the parliament; the resolution garnered the support of 52% of lawmakers.
The resolution is meant to show “solidarity” with the Palestinians, according to the NFP, which said in a statement that the party is “ecstatic that the draft resolution to downgrade South Africa’s embassy in Israel has been passed by Parliament. … While many will argue that downgrading our embassy in Israel will impair our ability to act as a neutral mediator in the conflict. The NFP believes neutrality is not an option in the face of oppression and human rights violations.”
The South African Zionist Federation charged in a statement that the government “obsesses over Israel, which is the size of our Kruger National Park, and at the same hosts navy war drills with Russia, responsible for horrific war crimes and the deaths of thousands of innocent Ukrainian civilians over the past year.”
Under the resolution, the Israeli Embassy in South Africa’s capital, Pretoria, will be downgraded to a liaison office.