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South African Chief Rabbi Slams Government’s Support for Iran as Middle East Conflict Escalates
Chief Rabbi of South Africa Warren Goldstein. Photo: Screenshot
South African Chief Rabbi Warren Goldstein has lambasted the government for defending Iran and downplaying threats to Israel — part of what the country’s Jewish community has long denounced as an increasingly hostile stance toward the Jewish state.
“It’s disgraceful … but, not unexpected, that the South African government came to Iran’s defense, stating there was no imminent threat to Israel or the West from Iran,” Goldstein said in a video posted on X on Monday.
“Iran fights back by launching missiles at Israel’s civilian centers, condemnation for which is, as expected, muted in the international media and community of nations,” the Jewish leader continued.
Israel’s strike on Iran was a 1-minute-to midnight action to head off the annihilation of the Jewish state, and prevent another Holocaust. pic.twitter.com/kYj7Tw9bDs
— Chief Rabbi Dr Warren Goldstein (@ChiefRabbiSA) June 16, 2025
Last week, Israel launched a broad preemptive attack on Iran, targeting military installations and nuclear sites across the country in what officials described as an effort to neutralize an imminent nuclear threat.
The ongoing Israeli strikes killed several of Iran’s top military commanders and nuclear scientists and dealt a major blow to the country’s retaliatory capabilities, destroying not only much of its ballistic missile stockpiles but also crippling its launch platforms.
On Friday, South African authorities expressed “profound concern” over Israel’s military campaign against Iran and extended their “sincere condolences to the Iranian government and the families of all victims.”
“These actions raise serious concerns under international law, including the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity, and the protection of civilians enshrined in the UN Charter and international humanitarian law,” Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s Minister of International Relations and Cooperation, said in a statement.
“We reiterate our unwavering commitment to the peaceful resolution of disputes. South Africa urges maximum restraint by all parties and calls for the urgent intensification of diplomatic efforts to de-escalate tensions and promote stability in the Middle East,” Phiri continued.
In his video posted to social media, Goldstein said there is ample evidence that Iran was just weeks away from acquiring nuclear weapons, noting that the Israeli strike came on day 62 of the 60-day window US President Donald Trump had given Tehran to reach a nuclear deal.
“Israel’s strike on Iran was a 1-minute-to midnight action to head off the annihilation of the Jewish state, and prevent another Holocaust,” Goldstein said.
After five rounds of talks between the US and Iran, diplomatic efforts stalled as the two adversaries clashed over Tehran’s insistence on maintaining its domestic uranium enrichment program — a demand that Trump had publicly rejected.
“For Israel this war against Iran is a fight for survival. To stop its annihilation. To stop another Holocaust,” the Jewish leader said in his video statement.
“Had Iran been able to develop a nuclear bomb and announce it via a successful test, it would have been too late to launch a preemptive strike. The stakes would have been too high, and Iran would have gained the leverage to completely shift the balance of power, both in the Middle East and globally,” Goldstein continued.
Iranian leaders regularly declare their intention of destroying Israel and have for decades supplied internationally designated terrorist groups, such as Hamas in Gaza and Hezbollah in Lebanon, with weapons and funding to attack the Jewish state. Nonetheless, South Africa’s Minister of Mineral and Petroleum Resources Gwede Mantashe said earlier this year that his country would consider partnering with Iran for expanding its civilian nuclear power capacity.
Amid the ongoing diplomatic deadlock between Tehran and Washington, Israel had previously declared it would never allow the Islamist regime to acquire nuclear weapons, as the country views Iran’s nuclear program — which Tehran insists is solely for civilian purposes — as an existential threat.
“Everyone knows that Iran must be disarmed but none has Israel’s courage to do what must be done,” Goldstein said. “But if they won’t help, they should at least express their gratitude to the brave government, soldiers, pilots, and people of Israel for what they are doing to make this world safe.”
Since the Hamas-led invasion of and massacre across southern Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, the South African government has been one of the most vocal critics of the Jewish state on the international stage, repeatedly targeting Jerusalem through diplomatic actions.
Since December 2023, South Africa has been pursuing its case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ) accusing Israel of committing “state-led genocide” in its defensive war against the Palestinian terrorist group in Gaza.
The post South African Chief Rabbi Slams Government’s Support for Iran as Middle East Conflict Escalates first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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Trump Eyes Bringing Azerbaijan, Central Asian Nations into Abraham Accords, Sources Say
US President Donald Trump points a finger as he delivers remarks in the Roosevelt Room at the White House in Washington, DC, US, July 31, 2025. Photo: Kent Nishimura via Reuters Connect
President Donald Trump’s administration is actively discussing with Azerbaijan the possibility of bringing that nation and some Central Asian allies into the Abraham Accords, hoping to deepen their existing ties with Israel, according to five sources with knowledge of the matter.
As part of the Abraham Accords, inked in 2020 and 2021 during Trump’s first term in office, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.
Azerbaijan and every country in Central Asia, by contrast, already have longstanding relations with Israel, meaning that an expansion of the accords to include them would largely be symbolic, focusing on strengthening ties in areas like trade and military cooperation, said the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss private conversations.
Such an expansion would reflect Trump’s openness to pacts that are less ambitious than his administration’s goal to convince regional heavyweight Saudi Arabia to restore ties with Israel while war rages in Gaza.
The kingdom has repeatedly said it would not recognize Israel without steps towards Israeli recognition of a Palestinian state.
Another key sticking point is Azerbaijan’s conflict with its neighbor Armenia, since the Trump administration considers a peace deal between the two Caucasus nations as a precondition to join the Abraham Accords, three sources said.
While Trump officials have publicly floated several potential entrants into the accords, the talks centered on Azerbaijan are among the most structured and serious, the sources said. Two of the sources argued a deal could be reached within months or even weeks.
Trump’s special envoy for peace missions, Steve Witkoff, traveled to Azerbaijan’s capital, Baku, in March to meet with Azerbaijani President Ilham Aliyev. Aryeh Lightstone, a key Witkoff aide, met Aliyev later in the spring in part to discuss the Abraham Accords, three of the sources said.
As part of the discussions, Azerbaijani officials have contacted officials in Central Asian nations, including in nearby Kazakhstan, to gauge their interest in a broader Abraham Accords expansion, those sources said. It was not clear which other countries in Central Asia – which includes Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Kyrgyzstan – were contacted.
The State Department, asked for comment, did not discuss specific countries, but said expanding the accords has been one of the key objectives of Trump. “We are working to get more countries to join,” said a US official.
The Azerbaijani government declined to comment.
The White House, the Israeli foreign ministry and the Kazakhstani embassy in Washington did not respond to requests for comment.
Any new accords would not modify the previous Abraham Accords deals signed by Israel.
OBSTACLES REMAIN
The original Abraham Accords – inked between Israel and the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco and Sudan – were centered on restoration of ties. The second round of expansion appears to be morphing into a broader mechanism designed to expand US and Israeli soft power.
Wedged between Russia to the north and Iran to the south, Azerbaijan occupies a critical link in trade flows between Central Asia and the West. The Caucasus and Central Asia are also rich in natural resources, including oil and gas, prompting various major powers to compete for influence in the region.
Expanding the accords to nations that already have diplomatic relations with Israel may also be a means of delivering symbolic wins to a president who is known to talk up even relatively small victories.
Two sources described the discussions involving Central Asia as embryonic – but the discussions with Azerbaijan as relatively advanced.
But challenges remain and there is no guarantee a deal will be reached, particularly with slow progress in talks between Armenia and Azerbaijan.
The two countries, which both won independence from the Soviet Union in 1991, have been at loggerheads since the late 1980s when Nagorno-Karabakh – an Azerbaijani region that had a mostly ethnic-Armenian population – broke away from Azerbaijan with support from Armenia.
In 2023, Azerbaijan retook Karabakh, prompting about 100,000 ethnic Armenians to flee to Armenia. Both sides have since said they want to sign a treaty on a formal end to the conflict.
Primarily Christian Armenia and the US have close ties, and the Trump administration is wary of taking action that could upset authorities in Yerevan.
Still, US officials, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio and Trump himself, have argued that a peace deal between those two nations is near.
“Armenia and Azerbaijan, we worked magic there,” Trump told reporters earlier in July. “And it’s pretty close.”
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Trump Reaffirms Support for Morocco’s Sovereignty Over Western Sahara
A Polisario fighter sits on a rock at a forward base, on the outskirts of Tifariti, Western Sahara, Sept. 9, 2016. Photo: Reuters / Zohra Bensemra / File.
US President Donald Trump has reaffirmed support for Morocco’s sovereignty over Western Sahara, saying a Moroccan autonomy plan for the territory was the sole solution to the disputed region, state news agency MAP said on Saturday.
The long-frozen conflict pits Morocco, which considers the territory as its own, against the Algeria-backed Polisario Front, which seeks an independent state there.
Trump at the end of his first term in office recognized the Moroccan claims to Western Sahara, which has phosphate reserves and rich fishing grounds, as part of a deal under which Morocco agreed to normalize its relations with Israel.
His secretary of state, Marco Rubio, made clear in April that support for Morocco on the issue remained US policy, but these were Trump’s first quoted remarks on the dispute during his second term.
“I also reiterate that the United States recognizes Moroccan sovereignty over Western Sahara and supports Morocco’s serious, credible and realistic autonomy proposal as the only basis for a just and lasting solution to the dispute,” MAP quoted Trump as saying in a message to Morocco’s King Mohammed VI.
“Together we are advancing shared priorities for peace and security in the region, including by building on the Abraham Accords, combating terrorism and expanding commercial cooperation,” Trump said.
As part of the Abraham Accords signed during Trump’s first term, four Muslim-majority countries agreed to normalize diplomatic relations with Israel after US mediation.
In June this year, Britain became the third permanent member of the U.N. Security Council to back an autonomy plan under Moroccan sovereignty for the territory after the U.S. and France.
Algeria, which has recognized the self-declared Sahrawi Republic, has refused to take part in roundtables convened by the U.N. envoy to Western Sahara and insists on holding a referendum with independence as an option.
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Israel Says Its Missions in UAE Remain Open Despite Reported Security Threats
President Isaac Herzog meets on Dec. 5, 2022, with UAE President Sheikh Mohamed bin Zayed Al Nahyan in Abu Dhabi. Photo: GPO/Amos Ben Gershom
i24 News – Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Friday that its missions to the United Arab Emirates are open on Friday and representatives continue to operate at the embassy in Abu Dhabi and the consulate in Dubai in cooperation with local authorities.
This includes, the statement underlined, ensuring the protection of Israeli diplomats.
On Thursday, reports appeared in Israeli media that Israel was evacuating most of its diplomatic staff in the UAE after the National Security Council heightened its travel warning for Israelis staying in the Gulf country for fear of an Iranian or Iran-sponsored attacks.
“We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in a statement.
After signing the Abraham Accords with Israel in 2020, the UAE has been among the closest regional allies of the Jewish state.
Israel is concerned about its citizens and diplomats being targeted in retaliatory attacks following its 12-day war against Iran last month.
Earlier this year, the UAE sentenced three citizens of Uzbekistan to death for last year’s murder of Israeli-Moldovan rabbi Zvi Cohen.