South Africa downgrades its embassy in Israel to a liaison office

And I will bless them that bless thee, and curse him that curseth thee: Genesis 12:3a

Behold, I will make Jerusalem a cup of trembling unto all the people round about, when they shall be in the siege both against Judah and against Jerusalem.
And in that day will I make Jerusalem a burdensome stone for all people: all that burden themselves with it shall be cut in pieces, though all the people of the earth be gathered together against it...
...In that day will I make the governors of Judah like an hearth of fire among the wood, and like a torch of fire in a sheaf; and they shall devour all the people round about, on the right hand and on the left: and Jerusalem shall be inhabited again in her own place, even in Jerusalem...
... In that day shall the Lord defend the inhabitants of Jerusalem; and he that is feeble among them at that day shall be as David; and the house of David shall be as God, as the angel of the Lord before them.
And it shall come to pass in that day, that I will seek to destroy all the nations that come against Jerusalem. Zechariah 12:2-3, 6, 8-9

As reported by Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 21, 2017:

South Africa’s ruling party, the African National Congress, announced that it will downgrade the country’s embassy in Israel to a liaison office.

The decision made late Wednesday night during the ANC’s national conference in Johannesburg came less than a day before the U.N. General Assembly approved a resolution rejecting any recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.

“In order to give our practical expression of support to the oppressed people of Palestine; the ANC has unanimously resolved to direct the SA government to immediately and unconditionally downgrade the South African Embassy in Israel to a Liaison Office,” the resolution read.

The South African government would have to vote to implement the policy, which is not guaranteed.

“We question the motives behind this discriminatory decision that would effectively prevent South Africa from playing any mediatory role in bringing about peace or dialogue between Israel and Palestine,” the South African Jewish Board of Deputies and the South African Zionist Federation said in a statement. “This downgrade will do nothing for the Palestinian people, and have a detrimental effect on South Africans.

“It appears to us that the ANC’s foreign policy formulation process was hijacked by forces that have a limited interest in promoting South Africa’s and key South African communities’ wellbeing and are rather obsessed with undermining the viability of Israel and harming the local Jewish community.”

I won't mention the 29 African nations that severed diplomatic relations with Israel after the Yom Kippur War in 1973, and the drought and famine associated with the expansion of the Sahara Desert that struck so many of these nations. Nor will I mention the positive relations between South Africa and Israel that existed before and during South Africa's apartheid regime.