Daijiworld Media Network - Johannesburg
Johannesburg, Jan 30: South Africa on Friday declared the top diplomat at Israel’s embassy persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours, triggering an immediate retaliatory step from Israel that could further strain Pretoria’s relations with the United States.
Israel responded by declaring South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata and issued the same 72-hour deadline for his departure.
Ties between South Africa and Israel have remained tense since Pretoria approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) with a genocide case over Israel’s military actions in Gaza — allegations Israel has strongly rejected as baseless.
The dispute has also drawn sharp criticism from US President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked South Africa over the ICJ case, including through verbal rebukes, trade sanctions and an executive order last year cutting off all US funding.
South Africa’s foreign ministry said it ordered Israeli chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman to leave due to what it termed “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice,” including allegedly insulting President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media.
While the ministry did not specify the exact posts, one that drew attention was a November post on X from the Israeli embassy account which read: “A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa.”
The South African statement further accused Seidman of a “deliberate failure” to inform authorities about visits by senior Israeli officials.
In response, Israel’s foreign ministry said it was expelling South Africa’s representative “following South Africa’s false attacks against Israel in the international arena and the unilateral, baseless step” taken against its chargé d’affaires.
Notably, South African lawmakers had voted in 2023 to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspend diplomatic relations over the Gaza war, but the decision was never implemented.
“We do hope that the Israeli embassy will engage with us in a respectful manner, and they will send someone who will engage respectfully and who will uphold and pursue diplomacy,” said Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s foreign ministry, speaking to Newzroom Afrika.