South Sudanese MPs call for country to move embassy to Jerusalem

South Sudan President Salva Kiir attends the reopening of the First Session of the Transitional National Legislature, at the Parliament building in Juba, South Sudan May 14, 2019 (photo credit: REUTERS/Andreea Campeanu)

Members of the South Sudan parliament have penned an open letter condemning Hamas and calling on its government to move its embassy from Tel Aviv to Jerusalem in support of Israel.

“We … urge our country and our president to think of relocating our embassy of the Republic of South Sudan with the entire mission, including His Excellency the Ambassador [Mr. Wol Mayar Ariec], currently based in Tel Aviv, to Jerusalem and to recognize Jerusalem as the sole and indivisible capital of the State of Israel,” the letter reads.

The letter, which now has 19 signatures, is dated November 27. It was spearheaded by the chairman of the South Sudanese Parliamentary Israel Allies Caucus (SSPIAC), Hon. Julius Moilinga and signed by 18 other parliament members.

Condemning terrorism

The letter also states that the parliamentarians condemn “in the strongest terms” the “act of terrorism carried out by Hamas, an internationally recognized terrorist organization, on October 7.” 

They also note that they were “amazed to see and witness in the media the celebrations and jubilation expressed by people in Arab capitals and some countries in the Middle East and Asia.”

They said that “every country owes the right to defend its people, territorial integrity, as well as its sovereignty” and that Israel should be no exception. It said that Israel is attacking Hamas because it “started this conflict” and has stated openly that it wants to “annihilate Israel and its people from the face of the earth.”

Hamas “should take the full responsibility and blame for all the destruction and lives lost,” the MPs wrote. “We urge the international community to stand with Israel as a message that terrorism cannot and will never survive in the free and civilized world.”

Rev. Dennis Nthumbi, the Israel Allies Foundation’s Africa Director, praised the caucus, calling it “courageous” for sending such a bold letter in a region that has been mainly against Israel.

Three days after the October 7 massacre, South Sudan President Salva Kiir wrote a letter to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on behalf of himself and his government in which he expressed “my deepest sympathies to you and the people of Israel for the people you have lost to the heinous and provoked terror by Hamas this past weekend. No amount of political grievances can ever justify the killings of innocent civilians.”

In October 2020, Sudan signed the declarative section of the Abraham Accords agreement stating that it would normalize ties with the Jewish state. Negotiations were finalized in February of this year. 

However, Sudan and Iran agreed to resume diplomatic ties only two days after the Israel-Hamas war broke out, sparking concerns. Iran played a critical role in planning and funding the October 7 massacre.