World Rugby letter confirms SA Rugby dumped Israeli team because of threats of violence, says Safi

A letter from World Rugby confirms that the South African Rugby Union (Saru) disinvited an Israeli rugby team from a competition as a result of threats of violence from extremists in SA, says South African Friends of Israel (Safi).

Safi spokesperson Bafana Modise says in a press statement that in the letter from World Rugby to Saru and the Israel Rugby Union (Iru), World Rugby says it investigated charges of discrimination that were raised by IRU after Tel Aviv Heat was removed from the competition earlier this year.

Modise says: “”In a shocking twist of events, World Rugby was able to uncover the true reason behind the rescinded invite. In the letter, they draw reference to public social media posts, regarding the participation of an Israeli side, which resulted in comments inciting threats of violence at the matches. World Rugby also makes reference to the antisemitic South African BDS Coalition statement which was released on 3 February 2023, in which BDS stated that ‘if this Israeli team comes to play in South Africa SARU will have blood on its hands’.

“In this revelatory letter, it is made clear that Saru bent the knee to appease political extremists in South Africa, who threatened to harm and incite violence should an Israeli team participate in the sport.

“A threat to the safety of any team or players only serves to undermine our country’s future ability to host international teams and sporting events. Not only would this affect our sportsmen and women, but our tourism and hospitality industries as well.

“This is a devastating blow to the professional nature of sport in South Africa. The antisemitic BDS coalition have intimidated Saru, under threat of violence, to comply with their own political ideologies regarding political affairs in Israel, which are scarcely shared with the majority of the South African population. While BDS argue that Israel is an apartheid state, nothing could be further from the truth. In fact, Israel is the only democracy in the Middle East, where the rights of all citizens — regardless of their gender, sexual orientation, race or religion — are equally protected by the law. Even the Israeli rugby team is composed of a diverse and inclusive group of players.”

Modise says that Safi has submitted two Promotion of Access to Information Act (PAIA) applications to Saur, to try and uncover which BDS representatives are responsible for this debacle.

“Political extremists seeking relevance in South Africa must be held to account for threatening violence at South African sporting fixtures, in a manner that curtails the participation of international teams in local events,” he says.

Gateway News has requested a response from Saru to Safi’s statement that it disinvited Tel Aviv Heat as a result of threats of violence from extremists in SA.

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