South Africa declares Israel's deputy ambassador persona non grata, orders him to leave country

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CAPE TOWN, South Africa (AP) — South Africa declared Israel’s deputy ambassador persona non grata on Friday and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.

The South African Foreign Ministry said that it was expelling Ariel Seidman, the charge d’affaires at the embassy, because of repeated official Israeli social media posts that insulted South African President Cyril Ramaphosa.

The ministry also said there had been a deliberate failure to inform South Africa of visits by Israeli officials and called it “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practices.”

Seidman is the most senior Israeli diplomatic figure in South Africa after Israel recalled its ambassador in 2023.

South Africa’s diplomatic relations with Israel were already severely strained after South Africa — which is a longtime supporter of the Palestinian people — accused Israel of genocide against Palestinians in Gaza in a case at the United Nations’ top court.

Israel has strongly denied the allegations of genocide and criticized South Africa for what it said was acting as the legal arm of the Palestinian militant group Hamas by bringing the highly emotive case at the International Court of Justice.

South Africa said that it had informed the Israeli government of the decision to expel Seidman and accused him of “systematically” undermining diplomatic relations.

The decision to expel Siedman is also likely to provoke a strong reaction from the United States, a close Israeli ally.

The Trump administration has accused South Africa of having an anti-American foreign policy over its court case against Israel and South Africa's apparent support for the Palestinian cause has been at the center of a major diplomatic fallout with Washington since U.S. President Donald Trump returned to office.