South African politicians and officials talked to former defence, security and intelligence officers from Israel for four days in an attempt to find a peaceful solution to the Middle East conflict, the South African Government Communication and Information Service said on Monday.
Representative Lorna Daniels said the four-day session, which ended on Monday, was one of a series of talks between South African and Israeli groups. Some of the previous meetings were not announced because of the sensitive nature of the discussions.
She said the latest round of discussions took place at the Spier Wine Estate near Stellenbosch. Briefing the media on Monday about the talks, safety and security minister Charles Nqakula said: ”We are doing this because important people… prevailed on us to play this particular role. These are very, very important talks.”
The sessions had been sanctioned by President Thabo Mbeki, who sat in on some of the discussions. Daniels said the Israelis wanted, in effect, to draw from South Africa’s experience of a peaceful transition to a democratic state. Cabinet ministers, deputy ministers and the Speaker of Parliament, as well as three ministers from the previous government along with current and former police, intelligence, security and defence officials, thus attended from the South African side.
The Israeli side comprised high-ranking former defence, security and intelligence officers. There were no Palestinians at the latest session, said Daniels. However, the next meeting would be held with Palestinian representatives. – Sapa