1) While the South African Government works closely with the Palestinian National Authority to address the challenges it faces with regard to the building and strengthening of Palestine’s democratic institutions, renewal of the Palestinian Authority’s mandate, holding of the pending elections, and the issue of human rights, the South African Government cannot ignore the reality that Palestine’s ability to hold a credible free and fair election in all its territories, including East Jerusalem, is negatively impacted by Israel’s inflexible positions on, inter alia, (i) refusal of Israel to allow Palestine to hold elections in East Jerusalem; (ii) the freezing of Jewish settlement construction on Palestinian land in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, which is designated as the future capital of an independent Palestinian state; (iii) the right of return of Palestinian refugees expelled when the State of Israel was established in 1948; (iv) refusal to agree to the 1967 borders as a territorial starting point for genuine peace negotiations; and, (v) reneging on commitments agreed when the Oslo Accords were signed in 1993, including the release of all pre-Oslo Palestinian prisoners.
2) South Africa consistently calls on UN Member States, the international community, as well as all political formations and parties in South Africa to support the efforts aimed at resolving the Israel-Palestine issue and to continue putting pressure on Israel as the occupying power to realise that relentless acts of repression, oppression and brutality serve only to undermine efforts directed at achieving a viable and sustainable Peace Plan that delivers Palestinian sovereignty, territorial integrity, and economic viability, with sovereign equality between Palestine and Israel.