South Africa bans Israel rugby team after pressure from ‘important stakeholder groups’

An Israeli rugby team that played Saracens in north London in November has been stopped from playing in South Africa after political opposition to Israel reportedly resulted in death threats against officials.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) told The Citizen that the reasons for the withdrawn invitation to Tel Aviv Heat were “ironic” after it emerged that Palestinian supporters had pressured rugby authorities.

Zev Krengel, vice-president of SAJBD, said the South African Rugby Union “pulled their invitation when BDS [Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions] and other antisemitic groups put pressure on them and [issued] death threats on board members”.

Krengel added: “The irony is, this is the same Union that wouldn’t allow black players and coloured players to play for the Springboks 35 years ago. So, we are very sad at an organisation that literally epitomised the apartheid regime behaving in the exact same way, 25 years in a free country and a free democracy.”

Tel Aviv Heat were due to play in the recently announced 2023 Mzansi Challenge, but SA Rugby confirmed on Friday that the team would not travel to South Africa to take part in the competition, saying it wanted to avoid a “source of division”.

The ruling African National Congress (ANC) welcomed the decision, adding that it called on “all progressive forces of the world to continue putting pressure on Israel to go back to a peaceful dialogue around the two states’ solution and ultimately end one of the most protracted conflicts in the Middle East”.

The rugby union said it had “listened to the opinions of important stakeholder groups” and took the decision “to avoid the likelihood of the competition becoming a source of division, notwithstanding the fact that Israel is a full member of World Rugby and the International Olympic Committee”.

In July, South Africa’s minister for international relations, Naledi Pandor, said: “The Palestinian narrative evokes experiences of South Africa’s own history of racial segregation and oppression… The State of Israel is committing crimes of apartheid and persecution against Palestinians.”