Nelson Mandela has been invited to visit Israel, but the former South African political prisoner apparently has not decided whether to accept.
Mandela, who heads the African National Congress, told a news conference here Tuesday, following an address to the U.N. General Assembly, that he is “processing” the invitation, which he had received during a recent meeting with the Israeli ambassador to South Africa.
The African National Congress has long caused consternation among Jewish groups for its close relationship with the Palestine Liberation Organization and Yasir Arafat, who spoke out for Mandela during his 27-year imprisonment.
South African Jews, however, tend to play down these concerns. Last week the executive director of South Africa’s Board of Jewish Deputies, Seymour Kopelowitz, said that the ANC’s position on Israel does not worry him.
He said the ANC, which is expected to emerge as the largest party in what he views as an inevitable shift to majority rule in South Africa, has given the Jewish community assurances that its educational, welfare and communal activities will be allowed to continue.
Addressing questions about his views on Zionism and Israel during the news conference, Mandela refused to distance himself from the PLO, saying, “The enemies of Israel are not our enemies.”
But he reaffirmed that the ANC recognizes Israel’s existence, though not its right to occupy “land belonging to other communities.”
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