Chief justice Mogoeng Mogoeng’s proclivity for public speaking has put him and the judiciary in a bind after he seemed to publicly support Israel, contradicting SA’s official foreign policy on one of the most contested political issues in the world.

It caused such a stir that the ANC, in an extraordinary statement never seen before, called on National Assembly speaker Thandi Modise to hold high-level talks with Mogoeng about his political comments...