Last week, Aljazeera released several leaked official documents from South Africa, which unearthed classified Intel from the continent’s second largest economy. One of these documents revealed that someone who claimed to be a former agent of Mossad threatened to unleash a devastating cyber-attack on South Africa’s banking and financial sectors if they did not curb the growing Boycott Divestment and Sanction movement (BDS) campaign. This threat is a sign that Israel is panicking about the growing influence of the BDS movement in South Africa.

Israel has had two sides of a relationship with South Africa. Once its greatest ally in the continent during Apartheid; South Africa has since the emancipation of its blacks, become critical of Israel due to its treatment of Palestinians. The rainbow nation is now at the forefront of opposition to Israel’s policies and its stand has caused a huge decrease in the value of its investments. Dwindling Israeli businesses in the second largest and most advanced economy in Africa is largely thanks to the BDS movement.

The BDS movement is a global campaign by Palestine and their supporters against Israeli’s policy towards Palestine. The BDS movement seeks to end Israeli’s occupation of Palestinian land; to ensure that there is full equality for Arab-Palestinian citizens of Israel, as well as respect for the right of return of Palestinian refugees. This BDS tactic was successful in mobilizing people around the globe to support the movement to end racist oppression in South Africa.

In South Africa, the Trade Union COSATU, the ruling ANC, Veterans of anti-apartheid struggle and several groups have endorsed the BDS movement in their support for Palestine. The BDS South African campaigns have so far focused on grassroots activism against Israeli products. They have protested against Wellness Warehouse for stocking AHAVA beauty products and Woolworths Supermarket for stocking Israeli produce.

“Our employees of all faiths and cultures tell us that they are feeling increasingly threatened by the protests in and around some of our stores,” it said in a statement quoted by the South African news website Times Live.

However, some members of South Africa’s BDS are been accused of anti-Semitism. For example, the South African Students Congress (SASCO) and Congress of South African Students (COSAS) demanded that the Durban University of Technology should expel Jewish students.

A long-standing relationship 

However, Israel has had a long history of investment with South Africa. During the era of apartheid, South Africa was its key ally; it imported arms from Israel while information on military enhancements were regularly exchanged. Israel also discreetly traded with South Africa for the purchase of Uranium. In 1986, coal imports from South Africa was about $181 million while non-military exports by Israel totalled $58.8 million.

As at 2003, the annual trade between South Africa and Israel had grown to $500 million until the BDS movement hit top gear. Israel is now losing millions of Sherkels as a result of this movement as imports from countries such as South Africa have dwindled in recent years. Recently, South Africa stopped the importation of circumcision devices from Israel.

Although trade between both nations has slowed, Israel still receives a large boost from South African Diamond mining companies. This is because the country sends Diamond worth billions of Rands to Israel to be cut and polished. “With an annual turnover of about R110 billion ($9.37 billion), the diamond industry is absolutely central to the Israeli economy, accounting for roughly 30 percent of exports and five percent of GDP  in recent year while providing employment for an estimated 20,000 people in Israel and additional 35,000 abroad,” Palestinian Anti- Apartheid Wall campaign said.

Both parties obviously need each other, hence the business relationship isn’t expected to wither like its political friendship. Diplomacy, therefore, seems the only logical way forward as both countries seek to find a middle ground that allows for political tolerance and business partnerships.