On the centenary of Nelson Mandela’s birth, July 18, 2018, our project team met former Israeli ambassador to South Africa, Dr. Alon Liel, in Abu Gosh outside Jerusalem. Dr. Liel surveyed Israel’s relations with South Africa during the 1980s and 1990s, focusing on his role as the head of the South African desk in the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs between 1986-1989, as well as on his ambassadorial period (1992-1994) during the South African period of transition from apartheid to democracy. He also talked about his close relations with Mandela and about Mandela’s visit to Israel in 1999. Dr. Alon Liel is a founding member of the umbrella organization SISO (Save Israel Stop the Occupation) which calls on the Israeli government to end the Occupation.