South Africa Votes to Close Israeli Embassy, Halts Diplomatic Ties Over Gaza Conflict

The South African National Assembly on Tuesday voted to suspend all diplomatic relations with Israel and close the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria. This move is in response to the ongoing conflict in Gaza and will remain until Israel agrees to a cease-fire and joins UN-facilitated negotiations.

Out of the National Assembly’s members, 248 voted in favor of the nonbinding motion, with 91 against it. The motion, proposed by the opposition Economic Freedom Fighters party, received backing from the ruling African National Congress.

This parliamentary decision follows Israel’s recall of its ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, on Monday for consultations. In a separate development, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa presided over a BRICS extraordinary virtual summit addressing the Palestinian-Israeli issue.

South Africa has been escalating its actions against Israel, having referred the nation to the International Criminal Court (ICC) last week for a war crimes investigation. The South African cabinet is also urging the ICC to issue arrest warrants for those involved, including Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Earlier in the month, South Africa had recalled all diplomats from its embassy in Israel, marking a significant downturn in the two countries’ diplomatic relations.