Fast Fact #11
Israel-South Africa relations have not always been rocky. In 1948, South Africa was the seventh nation to give de facto recognition the new State of Israel. The Israeli city Ashkelon was originally designed, financed, and built by South African Jewry, who managed it from 1949 to 1959. Started to house new immigrants and refugees from around the world, Ashkelon merged with Migdal Gad in 1955.