SA Chief Rabbi invites counter-terror task force to South Africa

In the wake of an attempted terror attack at the Jewish community center in Cape Town last month, Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa, has announced that he has invited a counter-terrorism task force to assist in the investigation into the attack. In December, an explosive device was thrown into the Samson Community Centre in Cape Town on the same day as an attack on a synagogue in Melbourne, Australia.

“There is a growing terror threat from Iran against Jews worldwide, and the task force’s work in South Africa will assist all diaspora communities,” said Goldstein. “I have asked the task force to write a report on their findings, including an assessment of the terror threat here in South Africa within the global context, and to make recommendations for protecting places of worship, schools, and community centers in South Africa and worldwide from the threat of terrorism.”

The task force is led by Andre Pienaar, co-founder of the Directorate of Special Operations (DSO), known as the Scorpions, an elite law enforcement unit created by President Nelson Mandela in South Africa. 

>> Watch additional episodes by Rabbi Warren Goldstein, Chief Rabbi of South Africa: https://www.youtube.com/@chiefrabbigoldstein

Other task force members include Dean Haydon, former Senior National Coordinator for Counter-terrorism in the United Kingdom and former Deputy Commissioner of the Metropolitan Police; Admiral Mike Hewitt, former Deputy Director for Global Operations, Joint Chiefs of Staff, U.S. Defense Department; and Maj. Gen. (Ret.) David Tsur, former Commander of the Counter-terrorism Unit in the Israeli Police (Yamam).

“By doing this,” he added, “we make South Africa and the world not just safer for Jews but for all decent people. History has shown that a society unsafe for Jews is unsafe for civilized values and is not a place where people can truly thrive and prosper.”

Goldstein framed the need to create the task force within the context of moral clarity and ensuring safety for all. “God’s very first act of creation was to say, ‘Let there be light.’ For goodness and human civilization to exist, there must be light—the light of moral clarity to distinguish between good and evil, the light of knowledge, information, and understanding,” he stated.

“This investigation is about bringing light into our world. To shed light on the darkness of terror so that it cannot hide in the dark corners of society, to shed light on the threats so that we counter them, to shed light on evil so that it may be defeated.”