South Africa and Israel have ramped up their ongoing feud by booting out each other’s top diplomats in a tit-for-tat move that’s highlighting just how strained relations have become between the two nations.
It all kicked off when South Africa accused Israel’s chargé d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, of trash-talking President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media and sneaking in Israeli officials without getting the green light first. In a strongly worded statement, South Africa’s foreign affairs department called it a blatant misuse of diplomatic perks and a slap in the face to international rules under the Vienna Convention. They stressed that their country’s sovereignty and the respect due to its leaders can’t be messed with.
As a result, they labeled Seidman persona non grata and gave him just 72 hours to pack up and leave.
Not one to back down, Israel fired back within hours. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, along with Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, declared South Africa’s Chargé d’Affaires in Israel, Shaun Byneveldt, persona non grata too, citing what they called baseless attacks from South Africa on the global stage. He also got 72 hours to hit the road.
This latest drama is rooted in deeper tensions that exploded when South Africa hauled Israel before the International Court of Justice in late 2023, accusing them of genocide in Gaza. South Africa argued that Israel’s military actions were aimed at wiping out a big chunk of the Palestinian population there, pointing to massive civilian casualties and forced displacements. The conflict has claimed over 71,660 lives since October 2023 and turned Gaza into a full-blown humanitarian disaster.
Israel, for its part, slammed the accusations as groundless and fought back hard.
The bad blood isn’t new. South Africa pulled its ambassador from Israel back in 2018 over deadly strikes on Gaza civilians, and Israel yanked theirs in 2023 right after the ICJ case dropped.