-take Helen Suzman for example.She said that she was airbrushed out of SA History...They are told today that as they were white they also lived a privileged life as all whites did in those days

I am certain Mandela and indeed many people in South Africa and beyond would actually prefer Netanyahu not to attend his funeral. Mandela was everything Bibi he is not, and do not stand for. It would be sacrilegious for him to soil the occasion. For once I agree with Bibi: stay away, where you are not wanted.

i cant afford it

Mandela's public image is being adored. That's not his fault. The Princess Di effect. Ignore the full, not always glamourous or heroic biography. Mr Mandela unquestionably did some great things, and I can't take that away from him, and wouldn't want to. But he also embraced terrorists like Arafat and Abbas, perhaps not understanding that they were the antithesis of his non-violent post-imprisonment career. Mandela: Ebracing non-violence, yet embracing men of violence.

Helen Suzman who received 27 honorary doctorates from universities around the world, twice nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize, was made an honorary Dame Commander 1989 by the Queen in the UK, voted #24 in the Top 100 Great South Africans TV series and Achmat Dangor, Nelson Mandela Foundation chief executive, said Suzman was a "great patriot and a fearless fighter against apartheid"?

The U.S. and E.U. taxpayers, of course.

to fly an aircraft to South Africa and back. Cost is being cited as an excuse, and that cost has been inflated to create a valid argument. The fact of the matter is on the International Stage Israel is isolated, if Netanyahu had gone to the memorial service (he hasn't been invited to the funeral) he would have been seen to be isolated. Something he cannot afford normal decent Israelis to see, as he remembers what happened to Yitzhak Shamir

well done bibi and perez. waste of time and money to hell with south africa irrelevant country full of rape crime murder going fast down the drain like zimbabwe

so Ynet won't print my criticism of Mandela and praise of Netanyahu - so be it

At least Bibi is consistent. Israel was the only country that dealt with RSA in the last days of apartheid,. Not only did Israel coorperate with the 'Boers' on economic level (ISSA) but even provided nucleair technology with which the RSA was able to build the bomb. (See f.i. the Vela incident) It is very questionable whether the ANC invited any Israeli; the hostility that exists between the ANC and the state of Israel is going on for decennia, because Israel never publicly made a mea culpa for her pro-apartheid policies of the past.

I'm glad they aren't going, he was no friend of Israel.

During apartheid, when she was the sole MP of the anti-apartheid Progressive Party, she was the first Parliamentarian to visit Mandela on Robben Island. He remained close to her even after she was marginalized by the new black political elite. “I have been airbrushed out of history by the new regime – but my friend Mandela still comes to see me," Suzman said.

#11 not mine.

it is the job of the president to represent the country - israel needs a president who can do it properly, and not a meddling, vain old fool.

israel was never "pro-apartheid", any more than buying an american car supports the kkk. trade is trade, unless you believe in boycotts based on the long-standing arab tradition of cutting off your nose to spite your face. (as evidenced in the latest united nations fiasco, where the entire arab bloc has voted, yet again, to denounce israeli agricultural assistance to third-world countries.) what israel did, actually, is not support a violent terrorist group called the anc that had friendly ties with another violent terrorist group called the plo. but it is interesting to note that robert mugabe and mahmoud abbas, "champions of peace and rights" (not), will be sure to attend the funeral.

Both Peres and Netanyaho are not attending Mandela's funeral because Mandela was against what Israel was and is doing - occupying Palestinian lands and treating the Palestinian badly. Moreover they are afraind to go there.

True. Peres wanted to sell South Africa Nuclear Weapons.

No. 10 is right and you are wrong.

I also believe that Israel assassinated Hariri, JFK, RBK, MLK, Hitler, Stalin, Sadat, Khomeini, Arafat, Mahatma Gandhi, Indira Gandhi, Sanjay Gandhi, Rajiv Gandhi, Zia-ul-Haq, Prince Ferdinand, Mohammad, Jesus, Julius Caesar, Abel, Adam and Eve.

We all know the real reason neither Netanyahu nor Peres will be going is fear - the obvious associations between the old apartheid regime and Israeli policies are unavoidable

Hey Rapper! I'm hoping to see your lively rap for this "flag lowering" event.

"Some domestic and foreign media outlets are using the funeral ceremony as a pretext to push Rouhani towards a meeting with the head of the Great Satan government," the Kayhan editorial claimed. I rest my case.

I always thought that Bibi is exposed so often that it was like the emperor has no clothes = but its worse - the emporer's suit has nothing inside it