JOHANNESBURG, Jan. 31 (Xinhua) -- South Africa on Friday declared Israeli Charge d'Affaires Ariel Seidman persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours. Israel later announced a reciprocal measure.
The move has raised questions about why the expulsion occurred, what has driven long-standing tensions between South Africa and Israel, and whether ties could deteriorate further.
WHY THE EXPULSION OCCURRED?
In a statement, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation said the decision follows "a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice" by Seidman, which it said posed "a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty."
It said the violations include "repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against President Cyril Ramaphosa," and "a deliberate failure" to inform the department of purported visits by senior Israeli officials. Yet the department did not specify individual incidents.
According to South African media reports, the Israeli Embassy posted on the social media platform X in November last year that South Africa's pursuit of legal action against Israel at the International Court of Justice had wasted millions of rand. The embassy called the move "zero percent of value for South Africans" and "100 percent political theater."
Later the same month, after Ramaphosa responded that U.S. President Donald Trump's boycott of the G20 Johannesburg Summit "would not work," the embassy posted another message describing the remark as "a rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity" from the South African president, a comment widely viewed by local media as sarcastic.
Earlier this month, David Saranga, an official at Israel's Foreign Ministry and the Israeli embassy, visited several medical institutions and Walter Sisulu University in South Africa's Eastern Cape Province without prior authorization. He also met with around 50 local leaders to discuss cooperation in agriculture, health, and education.
Eastern Cape Premier Oscar Mabuyane said on Monday that the unauthorized visits violated diplomatic protocol and appeared to be an attempt to undermine South Africa's sovereignty.
Analysts believe South Africa's decision to expel Seidman may be linked to these incidents.
South Africa said Seidman's actions were "a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention," adding that they have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations. The department urged Israel to ensure that its future diplomatic conduct respects South Africa and the established principles of international engagement.
WHY TIES ARE STRAINED
Relations between South Africa and Israel have long been tense, largely due to South Africa's vocal support for the Palestinian cause since the 1990s. Former South African President Nelson Mandela once said, "Our freedom is incomplete without the freedom of the Palestinians."
In May 2018, South Africa strongly condemned Israeli forces for killing Palestinian protesters in Gaza during demonstrations against the relocation of the U.S. embassy to Jerusalem. Pretoria recalled its ambassador from Israel and downgraded its embassy in Tel Aviv to a liaison office. In April 2019, South Africa said it would no longer appoint a new ambassador to Israel as part of the diplomatic downgrade.
Following the outbreak of large-scale conflict between Israel and Hamas in Gaza in October 2023, which resulted in heavy Palestinian civilian casualties, South Africa's National Assembly in November passed a motion calling on the government to close the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria and suspend all diplomatic relations. One month later, South Africa filed a case at the International Court of Justice accusing Israel of committing genocide in Gaza.
The court has yet to rule, while South Africa has reiterated it would continue to pursue the genocide case at the court until a judgment is delivered.
ESCALATING TENSIONS
Following South Africa's Friday decision, Israel announced a tit-for-tat move, declaring South African diplomat Shaun Byneveldt persona non grata with the same deadline.
In response, Department of International Relations and Cooperation spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said on the social media platform X that Byneveldt is South Africa's "ambassador to the State of Palestine not Israel."
"Israel's obstructionism forces a farcical arrangement where he is accredited through the very state that occupies his host country," Phiri posted, adding that this underscores Israel's refusal to honor international consensus on Palestinian statehood.
Analysts say the mutual expulsions signal that relations have escalated into a direct diplomatic confrontation. Since South Africa downgraded its diplomatic ties with Israel to liaison-office level in 2019, the two countries have maintained only limited political and diplomatic contact, making near-term rapprochement unlikely.
Some analysts also warn that South Africa's move could provoke a strong reaction from the United States, Israel's close ally, further hardening the Trump administration's stance toward Pretoria.
Since Trump returned to the White House last January, U.S.-South Africa relations have sharply deteriorated, with Washington citing alleged ill-treatment of Afrikaners and accusing South Africa of committing a "genocide" against its white population, a claim Pretoria strongly rejected.
Currently, neither South Africa nor the United States has a resident ambassador. Reuben Brigety, then U.S. ambassador to South Africa, announced in November 2024 that he would resign, a move that took effect in January 2025 ahead of Trump's inauguration.
In March last year, then South African Ambassador to the United States Ebrahim Rasool was expelled after stating "Trump is leading a global white supremacist movement" at a seminar. The same month, Trump appointed Leo Brent Bozell III, known for his hardline stance toward the African National Congress, as U.S. ambassador to South Africa, though he has yet to assume the post.
South Africa's Anti-Apartheid Movement said that Bozell's appointment raises profound and legitimate concerns about the role he would seek to play in the country. ■