Israel National News reports: “South African President Cyril Ramaphosa led a crowd in chants of ‘From the river to the sea, Palestine will be free’ over the weekend, leading to recriminations from the South African Jewish leaders.

Ramaphosa led the chant during a campaign rally in Soweto in an apparent unscripted moment. A call for Hamas to release the Israeli hostages it has held for nearly nine months was reportedly meant to be part of his speech but was omitted.

The South African Jewish Board of Deputies said in a statement, ‘The call to remove all Jews from the Jordan River to the Mediterranean Sea equates to removing all Jews from Israel. The slogan and its call for the destruction of the Jewish state has its origin in the Hamas Charter, with its goal to see Israel as ‘Judenfrei’ or Jew-free.’

The Board of Deputies said it was revolted by the ‘call to exterminate Jews from their Homeland’ and the ‘elimination of the only Jewish state.’…”