South Africa-Israel relations in a changing world: How did we get here?

Wednesdays: 6 March and 13 March

19H30-21H00 SAST ONLINE

Join us for this two-part session where we will use texts and discussion to track the path of South Africa’s ties with Israel, to understand how we have reached the current low point. Neither country has ambassadors in the other; the SA parliament voted to sever relations, and the SA government has taken Israel to the International Court of Justice on genocide charges for Israel’s military operations in Gaza. What is the context of this conflict? We will answer the question of how it got so bad, and what might be done to improve things going forward.

The sessions will be moderated by Steven Gruzd, who heads the African Governance and Diplomacy Programme at the South African Institute of International Affairs, where he has worked since 2003. He also worked for the SA Jewish Board of Deputies as a senior researcher from 2011-2013. Steven is also a frequent writer for the South African Jewish Report newspaper on international issues, including Israel-SA relations. He holds an MSc in International Relations from the London School of Economics and Political Science and a BA Honours in IR from the University of the Witwatersrand.