Can a country’s delegation to Samaria redeem South Africa?
By Nurit Greenger as reported from the Samaria Regional Council.
A South African delegation experiences a positive visit to Israel, triggering a political adverse storm in the country.
Yossi Dagan, the head of the Shomron (Samaria) Regional Council since August 2015, is doing holy work. He is making sure that the world understands and accepts the Samaria region as a pivotal part of Israel’s sovereignty.
Dagan regularly hosts prominent political and religious leaders and prominent business people from around the world in order to explain to them – and successfully convince them – that Samaria is an integral part of sovereign Israel and the heart of the Jewish people’s ancestral biblical land. More so, that Samaria is the most important region for Israel’s security and must receive the sovereignty rights as part of greater sovereign Israel.
The visit of a South African delegation during April 2025, in the Samaria region caught my eyes because this delegation’s country has become and is considered to be one of the countries most hostile to Israel. So much so that it led a lawsuit against Israel in The Hague-ICC (International Crime Court).
The delegation, which consisted of 15 participants, included MP Ashley Sauls, the “Patriotic Alliance” faction in the coalition Whip; MP Steven Nicolas Swart, Member of the National Assembly of the “Christian Democrats” faction; Ms. Katherine Alexandra Christie, National Assembly, the Democratic Alliance Party from the regional list for Western Cape and Ms. Marie Elizabeth Sukers, current position, Member at African Christian Democratic Party (ACDP).
The Daily Maverick Anti-Semitic Reaction
The Daily Maverick is an English language, online news publication and weekly print newspaper, an independent, leading South African source of news, opinion and investigations.
An anti-Semitic fury and attack against South African members of parliament was caused by their visit to Israel’s Samaria region. The delegation was officially hosted by Yossi Dagan.
The Daily Maverick newspaper took the lead with an anti-Israel attack. The publication attacked the South African members of parliament who were hosted by Yossi Dagan, the head of the Samaria Regional Council.
It was the first time that a South African delegation of dignitaries openly expressed support for applying sovereignty to the Samaria region. In response, the Daily Maverick published an anti-Semitic cartoon, by Jonathan Shapiro, a South African cartoonist, known as Zapiro, in which the delegation’s members are drawn with their eyes covered with the national flag of Israel and their feet immersed in [Arab] blood.
Yossi Dagan responded: “The integrity of these courageous people will defeat anti-Semitism and hypocrisy”
The [Problematic] Cartoonist and His Cartoon
It appears to be a despicable cartoon, drawn by Jonathan Shapiro, a South African cartoonist, who staged himself as an anti-Semitic Jew.
Jonathan-Zapiro, 66, was born to Gershon and Gaby Shapiro, a Cape Town, South Africa Jewish family. He is the nephew of British magician David Berglas and the cousin to Marvin Berglas, director of Marvin Magic.
Jonathan started studying architecture at the University of Cape Town and changed his courses to the Michaelis Art Campus.
Jonathan-Zapiro was an anti-apartheid activist. In 1983 he became active in the newly formed United Democratic Front anti-Apartheid movement and was arrested under the Illegal Gatherings Act, subsequently to have been monitored by military intelligence.
Jonathan was conscripted into the South African army for two years service where he refused to carry arms. He participated in South Africa’s End Conscription Campaign for which he designed its logo. After his military service Zapiro applied for and was awarded a Fulbright Scholarship to study cartooning at the School of Visual Arts in New York, a two year program.
It is clear from Zapiro’s cartoon that he bought into the anti-Semitic libel that Israel is an apartheid* state.
*Apartheid, the Afrikaans (one of the two prominent languages – Afrikaans and English – spoken in South Africa) name given in 1948 by the white-ruled South Africa Nationalist Party to the country’s harsh, institutionalized system of racial segregation. Apartheid came to an end in the early 1990s in a series of steps that led to the formation of a democratic government in 1994.
Zapiro’s Daily Maverick anti-Semitic cartoon depicts the members of his country’s delegation, among them members of parliament from the coalition and the opposition, as returning from a “fact-finding mission” in Israel in which Israel managed to seal their eyes with its national flag so they can declare that they “saw no evidence of apartheid” while their feet are soaking in [Arab] blood.
The Delegation Activities in Samaria
The delegation’s visit to Samaria is considered a particularly precedent-setting visit because of South Africa’s hostility toward Israel. Learning facts on the ground helps rebut falsehood and break down barriers.
During their trip, the members of the delegation visited Israeli communities and experienced the breathtaking panoramic view from the “Donald Trump” observation balcony deck, at the “Gutnik” center in the Peduel community.
After the tour, guided by Dagan, the South African elected official delegates expressed, for the first time, support for Israel and sovereignty in Judea and Samaria and expressed sharp criticism of the delegitimization of Israel by their country that chose to be hostile to the state of Israel.
MP Ashley Sauls les, of The Patriotic Alliance faction noted during the visit: “When there is sovereignty – there will be hope for coexistence.” MP Steven Swart said: “It is important that there is sovereignty here.”
Responding to South Africa’s Anti-Semitic Reaction
Dagan, in response to the Daily Maverick newspaper’s cartoon publication:
“The integrity of these plausible people will overcome Antisemitism and hypocrisy. Some choose to strengthen the forces of life and some choose to strengthen (death cult) Hamas. This ugly cartoon is a transparent attempt to intimidate those who dare to think differently.
“We will not be deterred; we will continue to expose the truth. We will build Samaria; we will continue to advance sovereignty in Judea and Samaria for the sake of Israel’s security and historical justice.
“We will continue to host delegations from around the world, and together we will continue to build cooperation, because the truth is strong and reality on the ground is stronger than anything else.”
