RGEDJewish leaders in South Africa denounced President Cyril Ramaphosa for what they said was his weekend incitement to a "genocide" against Jews in Israel. At an election rally in Johannesburg on Saturday, Ramaphosa broke from his prepared speech to lead the audience in chanting, "From the River to the Sea, Palestine shall be free." This slogan is well-known among anti-Israel activists and is commonly taken to mean that the Jewish state, which is situated between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea, should be destroyed.

The speech was given at FNB Stadium, the site of the ruling African National Congress's (ANC) last rally before Wednesday's elections in South Africa. Politicsweb, a South African news website, claims that while Ramaphosa made prepared words, they did not include a request for the release of the "hostages held in Gaza," who were abducted by Hamas militants on October 7. In a statement provided to The Algemeiner, the South African Jewish community denounced Ramaphosa's comments, voicing “its revulsion at the introduction of a call to exterminate Jews from their homeland” by the president.

"In the final moments of the ANC president's election speech, delivered to thousands of ANC members and on national television, the head of state of a democratic nation and the president of the ruling African National Party called for the abolition of the only Jewish state," stated Wendy Kahn, national director of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD). "He used the anti-Semitic catchphrase, "From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free," which is commonly interpreted as a demand to exterminate the Jewish people.

Kahn said that the slogan "the call to remove all Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea equates to removing all Jews from Israel" was similar to Hamas's aim of "seeing Israel as 'Judenfrei,' or Jew-free," but added that this goal runs counter to the South African government's declared support for a two-state solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. "The chanting of this slogan by a head of state of a government that recurrently tries to express their commitment to a 'two-state Solution' as their policy on Israel and Palestine is hypocritical to the fullest," the SAJBD said.

"How does a president in office oppose the foreign policy of his administration and party? This confirms what we always knew: President Ramaphosa and his administration wanted to incite strife among South Africans against the Jewish community rather than find a diplomatic way to resolve the unfortunate situation. "The president's disrespect for the Jewish community in South Africa is apparent in this spontaneous outburst at the rally, which is nothing more than anti-Semitic sentiment," Kahn continued. The SAJBD is examining how it might hold the president responsible for these derogatory remarks. South Africa’s ANC government has been one of the harshest critics of Israel since Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists launched the ongoing war in Gaza with their invasion of and massacre across southern Israeli communities.

Shortly after the Hamas pogrom on October 7, South Africa temporarily withdrew its diplomats from Israel and closed its embassy in Tel Aviv, citing the Pretoria government's "extreme concern at the continued killing of children and innocent civilians" in Gaza. Two Hamas representatives were in South Africa in December to attend a conference organized by the government to show support for the Palestinian cause. The US government has imposed sanctions on one of the officials because of his affiliation with the terrorist group. Jewish community members in South Africa demonstrated against Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor's recent request that students and academic administrators step up anti-Israel protests that have taken over college campuses across the United States earlier this month.

 The South African government's attempt to convince the International Court of Justice (ICJ) that Israel's defensive battle in Gaza amounted to a "genocide" was unsuccessful in January. But this week, Israel was told to stop its military actions against Hamas, a Palestinian terrorist organization, in the southern Gaza city of Rafah by the top UN court. The ICJ case involving South Africa included the emergency ruling.