Opinion | An ‘unguided missile’

Two prominent events happen last week, Worker’s Day and the 32nd anniversary of South Africa’s struggle and triumph against apartheid. It would be the height of cynicism if any major figure would at this time be providing apologetic polemics on behalf of an apartheid state in another part of the world that is on trial at the Hague. And yet Chief Rabbi of South Africa Dr Warren Goldstein has issued several criticisms of the pope (in the past Pope Francis, and more recently his successor Pope Leo), regarding their stances on Israel and global conflicts generally.

In mid April, Goldstein launched a sharp verbal attack asserting that Leo has “blood on his hands”. Speaking at an event organised by the South African Zionist Federation, the rabbi rebuked the pope, accusing him of failing to distinguish between good and evil in the conflict involving Israel. Goldstein directly addressed Leo in a Remembrance Day address, accusing him of failing his “fiduciary duty” to protect Western values and Christians from terrorism.

This is specifically opulent coming from the chief rabbi who has been defending terror and misery being unleashed on Gazans for the past three years in the ongoing genocide in Gaza. As of April 27, Gaza experienced a significant surge in violence that medical officials and international observers describe as the deadliest period since October 2025. Daily strikes have persisted, with the death toll rising sharply.

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In northern Gaza, an 18-year-old man was killed by Israeli army fire in Beit Lahia. Three people were killed in a strike near Al-Dahyan School, four people were killed and eight injured when a house was bombed. One person was killed in an air attack near al-Mughraq, two others were killed by IDF snipers near Gaza City.

This is over just three or four days, not forgetting the close to 200000 Palestinians who have been murdered by Israel, as documented by The Lancet, over the past three years. Goldstein is hypocritically speaking about attacks on Christians by presumably Iran or Muslim bogey men. Yet as of April, over 2000 people have been killed by Israeli bombardment, with Christian villages trapped. Several churches have been bombed by Israel, including St George Church in Yaroun and St George Melkite Catholic Church in Derdghaya, which suffered major damage.

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