JOHANNESBURG: South Africa has voiced its concern over the normalisation of relations between Israel and the United Arab Emirates (UAE), saying it is "regrettable" that it had been done without engaging the people of Palestine.
"Peace and stability in the Middle East, and particularly a sustainable solution regarding the plight of the Palestinian people, is of critical importance to South Africa," the country's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) said in a statement on Friday.
Acknowledging that the UAE had the sovereign right to set its diplomatic relations with the government of Israel, the statement said it was "regrettable" that it had done so based on an agreement related to the fate of the Palestinian people without engaging the people of Palestine.
Central to the UAE-Israel agreement was an undertaking by the latter to suspend plans to annex the West Bank, although Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a TV broadcast afterwards that he had only agreed to defer plans for the annexation.
"Most of the world's countries have called for a stop to the threats of annexation of the West Bank, as it would have been an act in contravention of international law.
The agreement by three countries, the USA, the UAE and Israel instead posits that a temporary suspension of the annexation should be celebrated as a diplomatic break-through," DIRCO said in a statement.
The agreement, however, does not commit Israel to halting of plans to further extend Israeli sovereignty over Palestinian territories and its people, it said.
"The agreement also, does not commit the government of Israel to negotiations guided by the internationally agreed parameters," the statement said.
"South Africa notes the concerns expressed by the Palestinian leadership and wishes to express its conviction that any initiative aimed at a solution to the conflict, must take into account the needs and aspirations of the Palestinian people," DIRCO said.
"In this regard, South Africa remains committed to the independence of Palestine under the two-state solution, based on the international recognition and independence of the viable State of Palestine, based on the June 4, 1967, borders, with East Jerusalem as its capital, existing peacefully side by side with its neighbours," it said.
South Africa's view on Palestine is that the outstanding final status issues must be resolved through negotiations between the parties, with support from the international community.