A key representative body of South Africa's Jewish community and the Department International Relations and Cooperation are at war, trading allegations of misinformation and accusations of hate speech. 

On Tuesday morning, the SA Jewish Board of Deputies (SAJBD) hit back at a statement issued by the department on Monday, accusing the government of anti-Semitism.

The department had accused the SAJBD of helping to create an environment conducive to the slaughter of Palestinians, in response to what it said was fake news and libel spread by its deputy head, Zev Krengel.

Krengel had spread false allegations about the nature of Hamas atrocities, "disinformation [that] is part of the arsenal of dehumanisation tactics used to justify a 'by any means necessary' approach to dealing with Hamas, which has resulted in the huge casualties we see today", said the department.

Accusing Krengel of lying "is an age-old anti-Semitic trope implying that Jews cannot be trusted", responded the SAJBD.

The SAJBD was "out of step with the views of most South Africans and people across the world", said the department, including "scores of Jewish people in South Africa" who have called for a ceasefire in Gaza and war crimes investigations.

International Relations and Cooperation Minister Naledi Pandor "refers to a tiny, fringe minority of Jews, who she alludes to as the 'good Jews'," said the SAJBD, "just as the apartheid South African government paraded a minority of Black South Africans who supported their Bantustan system".  

It added it believed Pandor supported Hamas, which she denied.

South Africa's Jewish population has more than halved since the 1970s, but is still ranked as the 12th largest among the Jewish diaspora, and the SAJBD has long, actively sought to engage with the government and oppose what it considers a too-close relationship with organisations such as Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions (BDS) and South African Jews for a Free Palestine.

Half a dozen political and social commenters were unable or unwilling to comment about the relationship between the South Africa Jewish community and the government; there was such a lack of empathy and logic amid the Israel-Hamas war that rational analysis was impossible, one said.

Asked about the long-term relationship between the government and Jewish South Africans, political commentator and University of Johannesburg researcher Steven Friedman said the SAJBD was not a legitimate voice for the community.

"The SAJBD does not represent me and many other Jews who reject Israeli human rights abuses.

"It is not clear who it does represent because it is not elected directly by the Jewish community and has rejected efforts to make it directly elected."

Friction, said Friedman, was not between the government and the Jewish community, but with "uncritical supporters of the Israeli state who claim to speak for all Jews but don't".