The South African Chief Justice Who Praised Israel and Sparked the Ire of His Own Government

Last week, Mogoeng Mogoeng, the chief justice of South Africa’s Constitutional Court and the head of its judicial system, participated in an online seminar with the country’s chief rabbi. A devout Christian, Mogoeng expressed his love for Israelis and Palestinians alike, and went on to criticize South Africa’s pro-Palestinian policies, arguing that the country could instead adopt a more neutral stance and use its experiences to help bring peace. Yet these seemingly inoffensive words earned the official condemnation of the ruling party, the African National Congress (ANC). The editors of the Jerusalem Post write:

The South African BDS (Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions) Coalition and #Africa4Palestine submitted a complaint with South Africa’s Judicial Service Commission against the chief justice, calling for his censure over “comments that are in contradiction with South African foreign policy and the spirit of our constitution.”

Regrettably, South Africa’s ANC government has in recent years become increasingly hostile to Israel, downgrading diplomatic relations following violence on the Israeli-Gaza border and recalling its ambassador from Tel Aviv in 2018.

In a country in which some 80 percent of the 45 million population are estimated to be Christian, it would behoove the South African government to pay attention to the wise words of Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein during the webinar. “At the end of the day, if we are going to overcome racism, what we need to do is reach out to one another and see the similarities and to realize that we are all human beings created in God’s image,” Goldstein said.

We urge South Africa to back the moderate statements made by Justice Mogoeng, restore diplomatic relations with Israel, and engage in a positive dialogue with both Israel and the Palestinians.

Read more at Jerusalem Post

More about: BDS, Israeli-Palestinian Conflict, South Africa

What a Strategic Victory in Gaza Can and Can’t Achieve

On Tuesday, the Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant met in Washington with Secretary of State Antony Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. Gallant says that he told the former that only “a decisive victory will bring this war to an end.” Shay Shabtai tries to outline what exactly this would entail, arguing that the IDF can and must attain a “strategic” victory, as opposed to merely a tactical or operational one. Yet even after a such a victory Israelis can’t expect to start beating their rifles into plowshares:

Strategic victory is the removal of the enemy’s ability to pose a military threat in the operational arena for many years to come. . . . This means the Israeli military will continue to fight guerrilla and terrorist operatives in the Strip alongside extensive activity by a local civilian government with an effective police force and international and regional economic and civil backing. This should lead in the coming years to the stabilization of the Gaza Strip without Hamas control over it.

In such a scenario, it will be possible to ensure relative quiet for a decade or more. However, it will not be possible to ensure quiet beyond that, since the absence of a fundamental change in the situation on the ground is likely to lead to a long-term erosion of security quiet and the re-creation of challenges to Israel. This is what happened in the West Bank after a decade of relative quiet, and in relatively stable Iraq after the withdrawal of the United States at the end of 2011.

Read more at BESA Center

More about: Gaza War 2023, Hamas, IDF