South Africa Threatens to Prosecute, Denaturalize Citizens Who Serve With IDF

The South African government has threatened citizens who enlist in the Israel Defense Forces that they could face prosecution.

A statement released by the South African foreign ministry on Monday said that the country’s government “is gravely concerned by reports that some South African citizens and permanent residents have joined or are considering joining the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) in the war in Gaza and in the other Occupied Palestinian Territories.”

It added that “such action can potentially contribute to the violation of international law and the commission of further international crimes, thus making them liable for prosecution in South Africa.”

The statement pointed out that under South African law, “any person wishing to render foreign military assistance in Israel must first apply to the National Conventional Arms Control Committee (NCACC) who will make a recommendation to the Minister of Defense and Military Veterans that such an application be granted or refused.” It added, citing the provisions of the South African Citizenship Act, that “any person who obtained South African citizenship by naturalization in terms of that Act shall cease to be a South African citizen if he or she engages under the flag of another country in a war that the Republic does not support or agree with.”

Whether the government will act on its threat remains an open question. Some observers pointed to the fact that eleven South African citizens who joined the Islamist terror group ISIS and then returned to South Africa in 2015 have yet to be prosecuted.

“This looks like posturing from the government because of the political pressure,” a South African Jewish official speaking on condition of anonymity told The Algemeiner on Tuesday. “The government hasn’t even prosecuted ISIS recruits returning from the Middle East, so undertaking this kind of action with regard to Israel would open up a whole can of worms.”

Nonetheless, Monday’s statement was in keeping with the hostile approach towards Israel adopted by South Africa over the last decade. Less than a month after the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom in southern Israel, South Africa temporarily withdrew its diplomats from Israel and shuttered its embassy in Tel Aviv, saying that the Pretoria government was “extremely concerned at the continued killing of children and innocent civilians.”

Last week, South African President Cyril Ramaphosa assured a delegation from the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation that there were no plans to permanently sever the country’s diplomatic ties with Israel. During the same meeting, however, Ramaphosa described Israel’s military response to the Oct. 7 atrocities as a “genocide.”

While statistics are not available for the number of South Africans serving with the IDF, immigration to Israel has increased in recent years. In 2021 — the last year for which figures are available — 555 South Africans made aliyah, the largest number since 1994. Many immigrants cited the political uncertainty that reigns in South Africa as a factor behind their decision.

Since Oct. 7, South African Jews have faced a growing tide of visceral anti-Zionism and antisemitism, much of it emanating from government circles. Earlier this month, two Hamas officials  — Bassem Naim, a member of the terrorist organization’s politburo, and Khaled Qaddoumi, its official representative in Iran — arrived in South Africa to attend a government-sponsored conference in solidarity with the Palestinians as well as ceremonies commemorating the 10th anniversary of the death of Nelson Mandela, the former South African president who led the ANC in its struggle against apartheid.

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