Former Israeli ambassadors to South Africa recognize West Bank apartheid

In 2021, two former Israeli ambassadors to South Africa, Ilan Baruch and Alon Liel, co-authored an op-ed concluding that Israel had become an apartheid state.

They cited the two-tiered legal system in the West Bank, illegal settlements, the demolition of homes and the forcing of Palestinians to live on smaller and smaller tracts of land.

For these former ambassadors, this forced displacement is reminiscent of the Bantustan project in apartheid South Africa, in which large numbers of black South Africans were forcibly relocated onto enclaves called homelands. The ultimate goal was to remove the entire black population from South Africa.

Notably, President-elect Donald Trump has chosen former Arkansas governor Mike Huckabee to be his ambassador to Israel. Huckabee has stated that “there is no such thing as a Palestinian.” He also claims that there are no such things as a West Bank, settlements or an occupation.

Huckabee also insists that any future Palestinian state must be located outside the land of Israel, and within “Islamist controlled properties and territories.”

Huckabee’s views aren't too far removed from those of some members of Congress. Senator Tom Cotton (R-AR) introduced legislation that would prohibit the federal government from using the term “West Bank.” Rather, it must be called “Judea and Samaria,” which reinforces Israel’s claims to this region.

And despite economic sanctions playing an important role in ending South African apartheid, a bipartisan bill was introduced in the House that would pull financial aid from universities that divest from Israel.

When Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addressed a joint session of Congress in July, he received numerous standing ovations. One could not imagine this occurring in the 1980s with apartheid South Africa’s President P.W. Botha.

Rather than revering Israeli leaders, Congress should be demanding that Israel end its systematic mistreatment of the Palestinians.

Terry Hansen

Milwaukee