South Africa’s government has found a new way to strike a blow at Israel by making life harder for Palestinians.

On Dec. 6, Pretoria canceled the 90-day visa exemption for holders of Palestinian Authority passports. The Department of Home Affairs said the waiver was being withdrawn after what it called “deliberate and ongoing abuse” of the exemption by “Israeli actors linked to ‘voluntary emigration’ efforts for residents of the Gaza Strip.”

South Africa is accusing unnamed “Israeli actors” of trying to empty Gaza by sending Palestinians to Johannesburg. Its response is not to go after these supposed actors, but to shut its doors to Palestinians who might want to visit, study or seek refuge there.

Under the now-scrapped exemption, charter flights brought a number of Palestinians from Ga

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