(Reuters)

The chief rabbi of South Africa said in a speech this week that his country's government is a "diplomatic proxy" of Iran.

"Just as Hamas serves as an armed proxy for Iran, the South African government serves as its diplomatic proxy, as it did at the [International Court of Justice], the diplomatic equivalent of the Oct. 7 attacks," said Rabbi Warren Goldstein, referring to South Africa's suing Israel for genocide at the World Court, according to Jewish Insider.

Goldstein made his comments in a speech, the text of which was obtained by Jewish Insider, at an AIPAC leadership summit taking place in Washington, D.C., characterizing the position of South Africa's government as "pro-Hamas."

"The different kinds of wars they fight are intertwined—Hamas with bombs and guns to kill and maim as many people as possible, and South Africa with words and arguments to delegitimize Israel, and turn Western opinion against the Jewish state, forcing it into self-destructive negotiations with its enemies through which it might be slowly dismembered or, left without the means or support to defend itself, simply overrun," said Goldstein. "This makes the diplomatic war of delegitimization, ultimately, the most serious national security threat facing Israel."

To counter the "diplomatic war," Goldstein suggested that the African continent's different faith communities band together, especially its Christians who have become targets of jihadist groups there. He also said his audience should distinguish between South Africa's government and its people.

"When it comes to South Africa, a superpower of the continent," he said, "don’t judge the country by its government, sinking under the weight of corruption and ineptitude that, according to latest opinion polls, has long since lost the support of the majority of South Africans, and with upcoming elections the country will enter a new era of coalitions and change."

Goldstein described his country as a "nation of heroes," cataloguing South Africans' endurance of apartheid, emerging as a faith-filled people who possess "a spirit of forgiveness and compassion."

Goldstein's speech comes months after South Africa charged Israel with genocide at The Hague over its actions in the war in Gaza against Hamas. The World Court ordered the Jewish State to reduce civilian casualties while stopping short of ordering a ceasefire, as South Africa had wanted.

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