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The ANC [WC] has been stunned and amazed by the desperate attempts to rebrand, sanitize and misrepresent the facts pertaining to its recent propaganda junket trip to Israel and meeting with Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The DA went through stages, firstly claiming that Mmusi Maimane was on a private trip, then claiming that he and the DA delegation were on a fact finding mission and finally claiming that the DA was officially meeting Palestinian representatives.

This DA propaganda trip was broadly covered in Israeli media, with DA leadership saying that they were having a “superb” time with Israel's prime minister and government. When this scandal reached South African media and when the ANC exposed the DA for its pro-Israeli bias then the DA swung into action. They attempted to mislead the public but we together with out mother body welcome the statement by the Embassy of the State of Palestine as the truth is now coming out.

The ANC appreciates the clarity by the embassy and reiterates our support of the people of Palestine who we view as the the oppressed in this issue and we will strengthen our support for the cause.

The ANC also takes note that the Israeli embassy and ambassador, in an unprecedented move, has issued a statement attacking the ANC. Its rare and unheard of for a foreign representative, that is a guest of our Government, to attack the governing party. We do not see it fit to respond publicly to the Israeli Embassy’s insults, allegations and misrepresentations but we warn the Israeli Embassy and Ambassador not to interfere with our political sovereignty.

The recent insult directly at the ANC by the ambassador of Israel and the embassy of Israel, representing the government of Israel, has again put into the spotlight SA-Israel relations. Indeed we in the ANC, as the governing party resolved in our previous policy conference, to continuously evaluate our relationship with Israel.

This recent insult indicates the arrogance and the impunity with which the Israeli government operates and is a reminder that the government of Israel is likely using it's state machinery to interfere with our sovereignty. In light of the Israeli embassy in the UK's scandal of meddling in local politics to counter the BDS movement we need to take such behaviours and utterances by Israeli officials very seriously.

The ANC in the Western Cape calls on the status of SA's embassy in Tel Aviv to be down-graded and for SA to expedite a complete review of SA-Israel relations including trade, immigration and diplomatic relations.

Issued by ANC Western Cape