Johannesburg. 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, a move that could further strain Pretoria’s relations with the United States.
Israel swiftly responded by expelling South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt, also declaring him persona non grata and giving him the same deadline to depart.
Relations between the two countries have been tense since South Africa filed a genocide case against Israel over its actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice. Israel has dismissed the case as baseless.
The legal action has also drawn criticism from U.S. President Donald Trump, who has repeatedly attacked Pretoria, including through verbal rebukes, trade sanctions and an executive order last year cutting all U.S. funding to South Africa.
Accusations over offensive social media posts
South Africa’s foreign ministry said it ordered Israeli chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman to leave over what it described as “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice,” including insulting President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media.
The ministry did not specify which posts caused offence, but one post on X in November by the Israeli embassy account read: “A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa.”
Pretoria also accused Seidman of a “deliberate failure” to inform authorities about visits by senior Israeli officials.
In response, Israel’s foreign ministry said on X that 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 (Israel’s) Chargé d’Affaires.”
In 2023, South African lawmakers voted to close the Israeli embassy in Pretoria and suspend diplomatic ties over the war in Gaza, although the decision was never implemented.
“We do hope that the Israeli embassy will engage with us in a respectful manner, and that they will send someone who will engage respectfully and who will uphold and pursue diplomacy. That is what we intend to do,” said Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s foreign ministry, speaking to television channel Newzroom Afrika.
