Israel has declared South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata and given him 72 hours to leave the country, according to the Foreign Ministry.
The Friday declaration came in response to South Africa’s decision earlier in the day to declare Israel’s chargé d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata, according to South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry. Seidman was also required to depart from the country within 72 hours, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
South Africa accused Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice, which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty.”
“These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO (South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry) of purported visits by senior Israeli officials,” the ministry said.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Pretoria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry statement referred to South Africa’s action against Seidman as “false attacks on Israel in the international arena.”
South Africa-Israel relationship shaky after genocide accusation
Diplomatic relations between South Africa and Israel have been strained by South Africa’s genocide case over Israel’s actions in Gaza at the International Court of Justice.
Israel has rejected South Africa’s case as baseless.