Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 54)
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- Democratic Palestine : 3 (ص 54)
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Zionist Global Role
In our last issue there was a study entitled «Israel and Africa», which we now complete with a short
article about Israeli interests in South Africa’s bantustans. In the meantime, we have received an excel-
lent research paper made by US progressive, Steve Goldfield, Ph. D., entitled «The Israeli Role in United
States’ Global Strategy». We have selected a portion of this research which covers Israeli military rela-
tions with the racist regime of South Africa, to complement our theme of ‘Israel’ and Africa. We anticipate
printing the other portions of Steve Goldfield’s paper in coming issues. (Note: Every specific fact and
figure in his paper is documented in footnotes. We have omitted these due to space limitations.)
Israel's closest military relations in
Africa were and are with the white racists
of Rhodesia and South Africa. The
notorious 1978 deal, in direct violation of
U.S. law, which sent Bell helicopters to
lan Smith’s regime was an Israeli arms
sale.''? The Israelis also licensed Smith
to produce special Uzi submachine guns
called Rhuzis.''°
South Africa, however, is the single
largest Israeli weapons customer.'*
South Africa’s prime suppliers of arms in
1976-77 were France and Israel.‘
Relations to go back more than fifty
years between the two states and bet-
ween the Zionist movement and South
Africa before 1948. In fact, the same
Lord Balfour responsible for the infam-
ous British cabinet resolution favoring a
Jewish homeland in Palestine had
authored the measure setting up the
South African state in 1913. Jan Smuts,
South African Prime Minister in the
twenties and again in the forties,
became a fervent supporter of Zionism
and a friend of Zionist leader Chaim
Weizmann in London during World War
|.1"© Smuts was also an architect of the
Balfour Declaration.'’” The ruling South
African party came to power in 1948, the
same year as the declaration of the
zionist state. D. F. Malan, founder of
South African apartheid, a virulent anti-
Semite, and an open Nazi sympathizer,
was the first head of state to visit
Israel.''® Relations were fairly cool, how-
ever, until the early seventies.
54
In 1974 relations were raised to the
ambassadorial level. Between 1968 and
1976 trade grew from $9 million to $97
million, not including arms sales.''9
South African Jewish citizens have a
unique exception which allows them to
invest in Israel. After the Soweto upris-
ing in 1976 these investments grew, ina
matter of months, from $8 million to $12
million. The South African government
had approved a ceiling on such invest-
ments of $25 million.'2° In 1977 came the
United Nations embargo on arms to
South Africa. Israel pledged to observe
it.'2)
Yosef Goell, a columnist for the
Jerusalem Post, quoted a senior dip-
lomat at the Israel Embassy in Pretoria
saying, «South Africa is the only country
with which we maintain relations where
our main problem is not so much that of
explaining Israel and her positions with
the aim of improving those relations, but
rather that of maintaining a low profile on
what are embarrassingly good rela-
tions. » 122
These relations are good in spite of
minor provocations on both sides.
Former South African Premier Verwoerd
wrote a threatening letter to a leading
South African Jewish lawyer saying that
the fact that «so many Jews voted for the
opposition Progressive party and so few
for his own Nationalist party ‘did not go
unnoticed’», according to Goell.'?> In
1977 Jimmy Kruger, South African
minister of justice and police, «casti-
gated South African Jews for sending
money to Israel and for ‘running away’
from South Africa in its time of trou-
bles.» 124 Former Prime Minister Vorster,
like many South African government
figures, was interned during World War
ll because of pro-Nazi activities.
In June 1971, on the other hand,
Israel offered a modest $2,000 contribu-
tion to the Liberation Committee of the
Organization of African Unity,'25 which
did not even deign to acknowledge the
Offer.'*° South Africa retaliated by sus-
pending the transfer of $25 million in
Jewish donations to Israel; the South
African Jewish community is the highest
per capita supporter of Israel among
world Jewry.'*’ The Israeli donation was
quietly withdrawn.
In spite of these frictions, during
Prime Minister Vorster’s visit in 1976,
the two governments formed a Ministe-
rial Joint Committee made up of defense
ministers of both countries.'7® According
to this agreement, the exchange of
Israeli arms and advice for South African
strategic materials'*® has three main
areas: conventional arms trade, nuclear
collaboration, and counterinsurgency.'*°
Since that time, South African-lsraeli
relations have been improving rapidly.
Israeli-supplied conventional arms
sales and licensing agreements with
South Africa include: Reshef-class gun-
boats armed with Gabriel missiles;''
Dabour coastal patrol boats; hardened
steel for for South Africa’s armored - هو جزء من
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