fbpx
| Magazine Feature |

In a Democracy, You Have to Speak Out  

South Africa’s Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein decries his country’s legal assault on Israel


Photos: AP Images, The Office of the Chief Rabbi of South Africa

As the South African government charges Israel with genocide, Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein insists that it’s his duty as a rabbinic leader to challenge the country’s powerful politicians and speak up for his people

 

AS Israel prepared last week for some Shabbos peace after three months of war, a new front was opening in the distant Hague. The small Jewish population of the Netherlands city of a half million was boosted by Israeli media anxiously relaying the scenes out of a court room as the International Court of Justice — an institution under the UN umbrella — tried Israel for war crimes in Gaza.

It was the denouement of a process that had begun on November 17, when South African president Cyril Ramaphosa told reporters on a trip to Qatar that Gaza “has now turned into a concentration camp where genocide is taking place.”

To observers of South Africa’s increasingly radical anti-Israel stance and budding alliance with Iran, the pronouncements weren’t surprising. But as head of the African National Congress (ANC), the political party founded by Nelson Mandela that has governed South Africa since the fall of apartheid, Ramaphosa wields significant influence by touting the Mandela legacy of human rights leadership.

Against strong pushback from the Biden administration, South Africa brought the case to the ICJ, accusing the IDF of genocide and seeking an immediate halt to Israel’s campaign in Gaza. Under no obligation to defend itself in the court, Israel chose to do so, seeing it as an important opportunity to push back against the modern-day blood libel.

Far from Israel’s measured courtroom defense, back in South Africa, a frequent critic of the current South African government took aim in far more direct terms. Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein called the trial “bizarre and without foundation in fact or law.”

“What are free societies doing ceding their national security and strategic interests to the judgment of their repressive, authoritarian enemies?” he asked.

Known for his transformative leadership in South Africa and as founder of the global Shabbos Project, Rabbi Goldstein is an innovator of the first rank in the Torah realm. In parallel, his repeated high-profile interventions that have put him on a collision course with the ANC government over Israel mark a departure for Jewish leadership in the Diaspora — but one that he stands by.

In a wide-ranging conversation as the Israel crisis spreads to the realm of South African professional sports, Chief Rabbi Goldstein spoke out sharply against his government’s positions, explained why doing so remains possible in a country dominated by corrupt leadership, and laid out a roadmap for rabbinic leadership in democracies.

For anyone used to the fact that Western leaders are broadly behind Israel on life-and-death issues, it’s hard to imagine what it’s like to live in a country where the powers that be are ferociously anti-Israel. Can you describe what that feels like?

It’s very uncomfortable, but I’ll tell you a very interesting thing. And it goes to the heart of what’s going on here. On the ground in South Africa, when you’re walking in the streets of Johannesburg — and even Cape Town, which has the largest Muslim population in the country and is the epicenter of the anti-Israel protests here — South African Jews experience very low levels of anti-Semitism, probably the lowest in the world.

People walk around with yarmulkes because there’s no fear at all. South African culture is very warm and tolerant and there’s no natural anti-Semitism. The Jewish community is very warmly accepted. Bear in mind that of a population of 60 million, a very high percentage are religious Christians on the model of the evangelical churches in the United States. The African evangelical churches, and they’ve got millions and millions of followers, are very positive toward Israel.

My anecdotal impression, having worked with many of these religious leaders and their followers on the ground, is that Israel has very significant, if not majority, support in the population in South Africa. This government, the African National Congress (ANC), has no mandate for its anti-Israel policies. It wins elections, but Israel doesn’t feature in its election positions. So when you ask how the Jewish community experiences things, there’s a paradox. On the macro level, we have a very hostile government. On the day-to-day level, the experience of people on the ground is very warm and positive, and it has been even at the height of the war since October 7.

Have any of these leaders reached out and said, “We stand by you and the government doesn’t represent us”?

Privately, I’ve received messages. I think that the way our enemies conduct themselves in the public space is so aggressive that a lot of people who are supporters in private don’t want to come out and say it in public. Having said that, there have been a number of Christian rallies for Israel here, but the really big churches are not entering the public domain on this. I’ve been to Israel with some of their leadership, so I know that there’s a lot of deep sentiment, but often people don’t want to enter the public domain because of the intimidation.

Excerpted from Mishpacha Magazine. To view full version, SUBSCRIBE FOR FREE or LOG IN.

Oops! We could not locate your form.