South African Former Pro-Palestinian Activist Leads Israeli Advocacy Efforts

Pana Bey, a 33-year-old South African, was once a student activist who participated in pro-Palestinian protests and believed Israel was an apartheid state. His perspective shifted during a 2016 visit to Israel with student leaders, where he encountered a reality starkly different from the narrative he knew in South Africa. Bey observed Jewish and Arab citizens working together and sharing political spaces, prompting him to question the long-held comparison between Israel and apartheid South Africa.

Since then, Bey has made multiple trips to Israel and now leads advocacy missions in South Africa through the organization Israel-is, which promotes a nuanced image of Israel via personal stories and direct engagement. He works with Christian communities, political figures, and traditional leaders, facilitating visits by South African politicians and community leaders to Israel. His social media efforts have reached over 200,000 followers and millions of South Africans.

Recently, Israel-is conducted a week-long advocacy tour in South Africa, hosting 15 events and engaging more than 1,300 people. The delegation included diverse Israeli representatives who shared personal narratives to challenge prevailing political and media portrayals of Israel. Bey highlights a disconnect between South Africa’s government, which maintains a harsh anti-Israel stance rooted in historical alliances from the apartheid era, and the general public, which is more focused on domestic issues like employment and the economy.

Bey asserts that the anti-Israel sentiment is not widespread among ordinary South Africans and that Jewish communities continue to live freely despite the vocal pro-Palestinian protests, which he says are largely driven by the Muslim community. His work aims to present a more balanced view amid the tense South African-Israeli relations following the October 7 conflict and the government’s accusations of Israeli war crimes in Gaza. Bey concludes that while government policy is hostile, there is no grassroots animosity toward Israelis or Jews in South Africa.