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Chief Rabbi Invites Counterterror Task Force to South Africa Following Bombing Attempt at Jewish Center
Anti-Israel protesters march through the streets of the township of Lenasia in Johannesburg, South Africa, Oct. 6, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Ihsaan Haffejee
South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein has invited a counterterrorism task force to his country to assist with the investigation into a recent attempted bombing of a Jewish community center in Cape Town and to make recommendations to protect places of worship, schools, and community centers amid a steep rise in antisemitism.
The move, announced this week in both a YouTube video and social media post, came about a month after the local Cape Town branch of the South African Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD), the umbrella group of the country’s Jewish community, said that an “improvised explosive device” had been thrown over the front wall into the community center and “failed to detonate.”
No one was hurt and no damage was caused in the incident. The facility, located in the neighborhood of Gardens, reportedly contains offices for many Jewish community organizations, including a women’s group, a youth movement, and a Jewish newspaper, among others.
The incident occurred on the same day that arsonists heavily damaged a synagogue in Melbourne, Australia, in what both law enforcement and political leaders called an antisemitic attack.
Cape Town Mayor Geordin Hill-Lewis confirmed at the time that city police were helping the South African Police Service (SAPS) investigate the matter and analyze closed-circuit television (CCTV) footage to find the perpetrator. He added that the case has been handed to South Africa’s Directorate for Priority Crime Investigation, known as the Hawks.
Now an international task force will be assisting the investigation and more broadly assessing the terrorist threat in South Africa, with the added goal of helping Jewish communities in other countries combat similar threats facing them.
“There have been a host of similar terror attacks against Jewish communities worldwide. Out of an abundance of caution, and with the heavy responsibility of my office, I have invited a counter terrorism task force to assist the investigation into the attack in Cape Town, as part of this global trend,” Goldstein said in a statement. “In carrying out its mandate, the task force is also working with the Security Advisory Council of the World Jewish Congress, and is being advised by an expert legal team.”
Goldstein noted that Iran, whose Islamist leaders openly seek Israel’s destruction and are widely regarded by Western governments as the world’s foremost state sponsor of terrorism, poses a particular threat to Jewish communities around the world.
“There is a growing terror threat from Iran against Jews worldwide, and the task force’s work in South Africa will assist all diaspora communities,” Goldstein continued. “I have asked the task force to write a report on their findings, including an assessment of the terror threat here in South Africa within the global context, and to make recommendations for protecting places of worship, schools, and community centers in South Africa and worldwide from the threat of terrorism.”
The task force is led by Andre Pienaar, co-founder of the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), known as the Scorpions, an elite law enforcement unit created by President Nelson Mandela in South Africa.
Other task force members include Dean Haydon, former senior national coordinator for counterterrorism in the United Kingdom and former deputy commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; Admiral Mike Hewitt, former deputy director for global operations who also served the Joint Chiefs of Staff in the US Defense Department; and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) David Tsur, former commander of the counterterrorism unit in the Israeli Police (Yamam).
“This investigation is about bringing light into our world: to shed light on terror so that it cannot hide in the dark corners of society, to shed light on the threats so that we can counter them, to shed light on evil so that it may be defeated,” Goldstein said.
“By doing this, we make South Africa and the world not just safer for Jews but for all decent people,” he added. “History has shown that a society that is unsafe for Jews is unsafe for civilized values, and is not a place where people can truly thrive and flourish.”
Drawing inspiration from the book of Genesis, Goldstein framed the mission in terms of moral clarity and the pursuit of safety for all people.
“God’s very first act of creation was to say, ‘Let there be light.’ For goodness and human civilization to exist, there must be light — the light of moral clarity to distinguish between good and evil, the light of knowledge, information, and understanding,” he said. “This investigation is about bringing light into our world. To shed light on the darkness of terror so that it cannot hide in the dark corners of society, to shed light on the threats so that we counter them, to shed light on evil so that it may be defeated.”
The task force will deliver its findings and recommendations in a forthcoming report, with the goal of making actionable recommendations to safeguard Jewish community spaces.
Goldstein’s latest move came amid a surge in global antisemitism, with several countries reporting record levels of anti-Jewish hate crimes and other antisemitic incidents since the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas’s invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, amid the ensuing war in Gaza.
The South African Jewish community has repeatedly lambasted President Cyril Ramaphosa and his ruling African National Congress (ANC) for insufficiently combating antisemitism and being one of the harshest critics of Israel since the Hamas atrocities of last Oct. 7.
For the past year, the South African government has been pursuing its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against Hamas in Gaza. In late October, South Africa filed the bulk of the relevant material to support its allegations, a move that the SAJBD slammed as a demonstration of “grandstanding” rather than actual concern for those killed in the Middle Eastern conflict.
South Africa temporarily withdrew its diplomats from Israel and shuttered its embassy in Tel Aviv shortly after the Oct. 7 Hamas pogrom, saying that the Pretoria government was “extremely concerned at the continued killing of children and innocent civilians” in Gaza.
Then in December 2023, South Africa hosted two Hamas officials who attended a government-sponsored conference in solidarity with the Palestinians. One of the officials had been sanctioned by the US government for his role with the terrorist organization.
This past May, members of South Africa’s Jewish community protested Foreign Minister Naledi Pandor’s call for students and university leaders to intensify the anti-Israel demonstrations that have engulfed college campuses across the US.
Later that month, Ramaphosa led the crowd at an election rally in a chant of “From the river to the sea, Palestine shall be free” — a popular slogan among anti-Israel activists that has been widely interpreted as a genocidal call for the destruction of the Jewish state, which is located between the Jordan River and the Mediterranean Sea.
Ramaphosa’s ANC has also supported a proposal by the City of Johannesburg to rename the street on which the US Consulate is located after notorious Palestinian terrorist Leila Khaled, who hijacked a Tel Aviv-bound plane in 1969 and attempted another hijacking, this time of an El Al flight, in 1970.
The government’s ardent opposition to Israel did not help its performance in elections last year, when the ANC lost its majority in parliament for the first time in South Africa’s post-apartheid democratic history. However, it still remained the largest party and retained power at the national level through a coalition.
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Algemeiner Unveils 11th Annual ‘J100’ List at Gala Featuring Douglas Murray, Matisyahu
British author Douglas Murray speaking at The Algemeiner’s 11th annual “J100” gala in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: FotoBuddy
The Algemeiner unveiled its 11th annual “J100” list of the top 100 people “positively influencing Jewish life” on Tuesday night at a gala in New York City.
The event took on special significance this year, with Israel having been at war every single day since the Hamas-led invasion of the Jewish state on Oct. 7, 2023, and fighting for its survival on several fronts — most notably against Hamas in Gaza, Hezbollah in Lebanon, the Houthis Yemen, and Iran itself. Meanwhile, antisemitism has simultaneously surged around the world during the conflict, with antisemitic incidents reaching record levels in several countries including the United States.
The spike in antisemitism and the war between Israel and Iran’s network of Middle Eastern terrorist proxies featured prominently in speeches throughout the gala. However, many of the speakers struck an optimistic tone, noting Israel’s recent string of victories against Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon.
“Fifteen months have now passed since the Jewish state went to war, since the Jewish people went to war. A terrible price has been paid,” said event co-chair Dovid Efune. “But it is a different world now. Israel has out-maneuvered its foes at every turn in a complex, multi-front war … The Jewish state has doused Iran’s ring of fire and replaced it with a ring of Israeli iron.”
The acclaimed British author Douglas Murray — who, as Free Press founder Bari Weiss noted in her remarks introducing him, has emerged since Hamas’s Oct. 7 onslaught as one of the fiercest defenders of Israel and the Jewish people — noted that the atrocities of the Hamas attack marked “the worst massacre of Jews since the Holocaust.” He also noted the “deep challenge ” of combating pro-Hamas demonstrators across the West flirting with “the most dangerous, evil imaginable.”
“What does it say about us and the society which we’ve allowed to emerge?” he asked.
However, Murray continued, he was hopeful for the future after recently spending months with the soldiers of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF).
“The real warriors are very clear. We all know who they are,” Murray said. “They are these remarkable young men and women. And we owe them everything. And the civilized world owes them everything.”
Murray was one of the honorees at the gala, along with Jewish singer-songwriter Matisyahu and philanthropists David and Debra Magerman.
Matisyahu, who was honored for his outspoken support for Israel and the Jewish people, said during his remarks that he reexamined his Jewish identity and faith following the deadly Hamas-orchestrated terrorist attack in Israel that took place on Oct. 7, 2023.
“After Oct. 7, I believe there was a paradigm shift. I was immediately forced to ask myself the question of what it means to be Jewish again and how important it is to be,” he said. “What does it mean to be a Jew now after Oct 7? Prior, the main division, seemingly, religion. But it seems that we elevated above that in a need to find each other. We are forced again to look inward. To ask ourselves: What does it mean to be a Jew? What does Israel have to do with being a Jew? If you don’t find the answer, the rest of the world will gladly find it for you, and whatever story they choose to make up — it’s not our story. The story of Moses and the Jews.”
The singer added, “May we continue to look within to find the answers we hold and may the shining star of Israel blaze forever.”
The gala also featured comments from Michal Lobanov, the widow of murdered Hamas hostage Alex Lobanov.
“After 11 months of unbearable suffering, on Aug. 29 [Alex] was murdered in Tel Sultan in Rafa,” Michal recalled. Along with other hostages kidnapped last Oct. 7, “their dead bodies were found in a tunnel in horrible conditions. Believe me, I saw this with my own eyes, the horrors that my Alex went through, together with the five hostages are the same horrors that happened in the Holocaust. Yes, we went through a Holocaust for the second time in history; there is no other way to describe it.”
The gala and Lobanov’s comments came one day before Israel and Hamas agreed to a ceasefire to halt fighting in Gaza and release hostages as part of a phased deal.
Algemeiner publisher and chairman Simon Jacobson also spoke on Tuesday night and laid out the stakes of the current conflict, arguing that the events of today will shape the world of tomorrow in profound ways.
“We’re living in historic times. Events that are happening now are not just going to shape today, tomorrow, but the entire future,” Jacobson said during the event in New York City. “Every one of us senses it, whether it’s events, the different countries around the world, leaderships in crisis, but especially, which is close to our hearts, the Middle East, Israel, the Jewish people.”
Past Algemeiner gala honorees and participants have included the late Nobel Peace Prize laureate Elie Wiesel; actors Sharon Stone, Sir Ben Kingsley, and Jesse Eisenberg; human rights activist Garry Kasparov; the late entertainer Joan Rivers; media mogul Rupert Murdoch; former Czech President Miloš Zeman; the late TV host Larry King; Iranian dissident Masih Alinejad; and Natan Sharansky, the famed refusenik and international campaigner against antisemitism.
Founded in 1972 as a Yiddish broadsheet by the late veteran journalist Gershon Jacobson, The Algemeiner today runs this news website.
The post Algemeiner Unveils 11th Annual ‘J100’ List at Gala Featuring Douglas Murray, Matisyahu first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Dovid Efune: ‘The Jewish State Has Doused Iran’s Ring of Fire’
Dovid Efune speaking at The Algemeiner’s 11th annual “J100” gala in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: FotoBuddy
At The Algemeiner‘s 11th annual “J100” gala on Tuesday night, the event’s co-chair, Dovid Efune, described Israel’s recent military successes.
“Fifteen months have now passed since the Jewish state went to war, since the Jewish people went to war. A terrible price has been paid,” Efune said. “But it is a different world now. Israel has out-maneuvered its foes at every turn in a complex, multi-front war.”
The crowd applauded.
Efune said that Israel “has firmly reestablished in the eyes of all, a role as a regional superpower. Israel’s young soldiers have shown themselves to be more valiant and more committed to their cause than their fanatic terrorist enemies. Its vaunted intelligence agencies have seized the initiative, reminding the world that the Jewish state’s knack for innovation has multiple applications.”
Invoking Israel’s series of hits against the heads of Hamas and Hezbollah, Efune said “we watched in awe, the systematic elimination of a line-up of Middle East terror chiefs. Those who remain are in hiding. The Jewish state has doused Iran’s ring of fire and replaced it with a ring of Israeli iron. The walls of David’s citadel again stand tall and firm.”
The post Dovid Efune: ‘The Jewish State Has Doused Iran’s Ring of Fire’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Algemeiner Publisher Simon Jacobson: ‘Times Like This Define Who’s Standing Up for Moral Clarity’
The Algemeiner’s publisher and chairman Simon Jacobson speaking at the 11th annual “J100” gala in New York City on Jan. 14, 2025. Photo: FotoBuddy
At The Algemeiner‘s 11th annual “J100” gala on Tuesday night, publisher and chairman Simon Jacobson issued a call for action.
“We’re living in historic times. Events that are happening now are not just going to shape today, tomorrow, but the entire future,” Jacobson said during the event in New York City. “Every one of us senses it, whether it’s events, the different countries around the world, leaderships in crisis, but especially, which is close to our hearts, the Middle East, Israel, the Jewish people.”
Jacobson continued, “So, as chairman of The Algemeiner, I feel especially honored that we are part of making history because it’s times like this that define who’s standing up for moral clarity amidst all the confusion, for values that we all cherish, that are the foundations and the basis of all civilization. That’s the time we’re in, literally every day.”
Describing three types of people — those who make things happen, those who watch things happen, and those who ask “what happened” — Jacobson said “all of you right here and The Algemeiner, are people who make things happen. We don’t just stand at the sidelines and react but are pro-active. This is the time.”
The post Algemeiner Publisher Simon Jacobson: ‘Times Like This Define Who’s Standing Up for Moral Clarity’ first appeared on Algemeiner.com.