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Liberman slams South Africa as 'anti-Israel'

The harsh remarks emanating from Turkey and South Africa indicate that it's OK to criticize Israel while strengthening ties with Iran.

Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (2nd L) waits to hear the verdict in the corruption charges against him at the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem November 6, 2013. Lieberman will return to the cabinet after his acquittal in a corruption trial on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said. REUTERS/Emil Salman/Pool (JERUSALEM - Tags: POLITICS CRIME LAW) - RTX15212
Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman (2nd L) waits to hear the verdict in the corruption charges against him at the Magistrate Court in Jerusalem, Nov. 6, 2013. — REUTERS/Emil Salman

Two sharp comments about the state of Israel resonated in the media here last week, Nov. 2. From the north, Turkey’s Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoğlu vehemently denied reports originating from the Gulf States and Lebanon that his country supplied Israel with intelligence which helped carry out the attack attributed to it against targets in Syria. “Turks have never cooperated with Israel against another Muslim state and never will,” he declared with determination.

A no less decisive remark was published from the south, by South African Foreign Minister Maite Nkoana-Mashabane, comparing the black struggle against apartheid with the Palestinians’ struggle against the Israeli occupation. "The last time I saw a map of Palestine, I couldn't go to sleep. … It is just dots, smaller than those of the homelands," she said, referring to the Bantustans in which the apartheid regime tried to concentrate the black population to more easily control it.

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