Exactly 10 years ago, Nelson Mandela, the South African revolutionary responsible for ending the apartheid regime in the country, died. At a time when Israel is accused of being the kind of regime Mandela fought, we used ChatGPT and Forefront to learn about the relationship between the Nobel Peace Prize winner and the Jewish state.
At first glance, Mandela was clearly pro-Palestinian. During the struggle against apartheid, the African National Congress (ANC), chaired by Mandela, expressed solidarity with various "liberation" movements around the world – including the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO). Mandela publicly supported the Palestinian aspiration for self-determination, drawing parallels between the struggle of the Palestinians and that of black South Africans. Mandela also harshly criticized Israel for being among the countries that maintained diplomatic relations with the apartheid regime and even supplied it with weapons. He also condemned the settlement enterprise, seeing it as colonialist activity.
Yet Mandela, who knew a thing or two about apartheid, never claimed that Israel was an apartheid state. During his presidency, he even maintained diplomatic relations with Israel, which, although not very friendly, met with Yitzhak Rabin and other Israeli leaders, and supported a solution to the conflict by a two-state solution, with an almost religious belief in the possibility of coexistence in this format, including mutual recognition – that is, not only of Israel in Palestine, but also of the Palestinians of Israel's right to exist as a Jewish state. He often expressed support for Zionism and the right of the Jewish people to self-determination precisely in its historic homeland, and saw parallels not between apartheid and Israel, but between apartheid and what the Jews went through in exile. He took pains to emphasize the many differences between the apartheid regime and Israel's rule in Judea, Samaria and the Gaza Strip.
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