A South African Jewish leader expressed the hope here today that “good relations” between Israel and the Republic of South Africa would be resumed now that the South African government has lifted a ban on the transfer of funds imposed after the Israel government made a gift, through the United Nations, of about $2,800 to the Organization of African Unity. The South African government, which regards the OAU as an organization advocating terrorism against the republic’s apartheid policy, publicly denounced the Israeli gift.
Boetie Kessel, leader of a South African United Israel Appeal study mission now in Israel, told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency in a special interview that the gift had been “quite unnecessary” and that South African Jewry had felt very hurt by it and regarded it as an indiscretion on the part of the Israel government. He added that South African Jews, who reacted with public criticism of the Israel government, had been “comforted” by information that “important sectors” of Israeli Jews also considered the gift “inappropriate.”
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
