South Africa’s position in the Israel-Hamas war has further strained relations between Pretoria and the Israeli government, culminating this week in the withdrawal of our country’s diplomats from Israel. In this episode of the Sunday Times Politics Weekly we explore the issues at the heart of the disagreement between the countries, and why South Africa is supporting the cause of the Palestinians. Our guests are Garth le Pere, visiting professor at the University of Pretoria, and Dr Lubna Nadvi, who teaches politics at UKZN. The two kick us off by explaining the historical relationship between the ANC (by extension the current government) and Palestinians and the history of the war. Nadvi, analysing the significance of the recalling our diplomats from Israel, argues the decision was inevitable and says the real test will be when South Africa shuts the Israeli embassy. The war has displaced more than 2-million people in Gaza and the deaths of nearly 11,000 Palestinians.  Nadvi’s teaching areas include international relations, Middle Eastern politics and peace studies while Le Pere is an executive director at the Institute for Global Dialogue. His areas of interest include international relations, South African foreign policy and the politics of the Middle East. Producer: Bulelani Nonyukela.