Provincial secretary Faiez Jacobs said it flies in the face of the ANC’s “January 8 statement that we firmly discourage travel to Israel‚ while DA does the opposite”.
The DA said on Thursday that Maimane “is currently visiting Israel and the Palestinian Territories in order to listen and learn about the conflict first-hand and to discuss how South Africa should be playing a more constructive role in bringing the parties together for peace”.
“He is also here‚ as a person of deep faith‚ to visit some of the most important holy places that are of spiritual meaning to him‚” a party statement said.
Maimane was to meet with Netanyahu and the leader of the opposition Bougie Herzog. A meeting with the president of the Palestinian Authority‚ Mahmoud Abbas‚ had been scheduled‚ but “was cancelled by his office due to a scheduling conflict in the president’s diary”‚ the statement said.
Jacobs said: “The decision by the DA to visit Israel‚ and last month Taiwan‚ is a direct insult to progressive civil society. The DA is undermining the collective efforts of those that fought for liberation of this country and the countless men and women who formed part of the international solidarity struggle.”
Tshwane’s DA mayor‚ Solly Msimanga‚ irked the ruling party and the Department of International Relations and Cooperation last month when he received the freedom of the city of Taipei.
That visit‚ said Jacobs‚ was “a clear violation of the ‘One China’ policy of the Republic of South Africa”.
“The current policy position of the South African government to Israel is to curtail relations with Israel and to discourage travel‚” he added.
“The ANC in the Western Cape will engage and work with civil society‚ community leaders and activists in responding to this latest DA-Israeli provocation - we will not allow this to go unchallenged.” – TMG Digital
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