Ariel Seidman,Israel’s chargé d’affaires in South Africa.
seidmanariel/x
South Africa declared Israeli chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman persona non grata,citing violations of diplomatic norms,including insults to President Cyril Ramaphosa and protocol breaches.Seidman must leave South Africa within 72 hours,in the latest instance of diplomatic tensions between Israel and South Africa. Israel retaliated on Friday,expelling South Africa’s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah. Israel retaliated on Friday after South Africa declared the chargé d’affaires of its embassy,Ariel Seidman,persona non grata on Friday.
“Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar decided – following South Africa’s false attacks against Israel in the international arena and the unilateral,baseless step taken against the chargé d’affaires of Israel in South Africa – that South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative,Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt,is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours,” Israel’s foreign ministry posted on its official X account.
“Additional steps will be considered in due course.”
Byneveldt is South Africa’s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.
ADVERTISEMENT
Israel has no authority to expel him,but could obstruct his access to the West Bank.
Chrispin Phiri,spokesperson to International Relations and Cooperation Minister Ronald Lamola,said:
We have appointed an ambassador to the State of Palestine. Israel’s obstructionism forces a farcical arrangement where he is accredited through the very state that occupies his host country. This underscores Israel’s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood.
Tel Aviv’s post follows the announcement by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) earlier on Friday that Seidman had 72 hours to leave South Africa.
READ | ‘Mischievous’: AbaThembu king blindsides Dirco with Israeli visits,hospital donations
ADVERTISEMENT
“This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty,” reads a statement from Dirco.
“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 of purported visits by senior Israeli officials.
“Such actions represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention. They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations.
“South Africa’s sovereignty and the dignity of its offices are inviolable. Mr Seidman is required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours.
“We urge the Israeli government to ensure its future diplomatic conduct demonstrates respect for the Republic and the established principles of international engagement.”
READ | Who is Israel’s new man in charge of its embassy in SA? ‘It’s complicated’
Relations between South Africa and Israel have become particularly frosty for a number of years and deteriorated further after Israel launched military strikes on Gaza following Hamas’ 7 October 2023 attacks.
In November 2023,South Africa withdrew its diplomats from Israel,and Israel called its ambassador to South Africa,Eliav Belotserkovsky,back to Jerusalem “for consultations”. The National Assembly passed a motion to close the Israeli Embassy in South Africa,but this motion was not enforceable,and the embassy remained,with Seidman as its highest-ranking official since his appointment in August last year.
South Africa approached the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague in December 2023 to declare Israel’s slaying of Palestinian civilians as a genocide – a move that also drew the ire of the US.
ADVERTISEMENT
“Only when South Africa withdraws its ICJ case will Israel send a new ambassador,” David Saranga,the director of the Digital Diplomacy Bureau at the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs,told News24 this week.
He was in South Africa as the Israeli Embassy visited several communities in the Eastern Cape,along with AbaThembu king Buyelekhaya Dalindyebo.
News24 reported earlier this week that the Eastern Cape provincial government and the national government were caught unawares of Dalindyebo’s visits to government hospitals in the province with Israeli officials.
A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa: “Boycott politics doesn’t work.”
We totally agree… pic.twitter.com/WHQ7JMyBnF
— Embassy of Israel SA (@IsraelinSA) November 13,2025
On 13 November,the official Israeli Embassy account on X posted in response to a BBC article in which Ramaphosa said boycott politics doesn’t work in relation to the G20 Leaders’ Summit,calling it a “rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa”.
Mr. President @CyrilRamaphosa:
We trust @DIRCO_ZA has informed you that all South Africans who tried to enter illegally will be expelled tomorrow via Jordan.
As always,it’s the South African taxpayers who get the honor of paying for their fellow citizens’ deportation tickets. https://t.co/H9R0pkjbvQ
— Embassy of Israel SA (@IsraelinSA) October 6,2025
Mr. President @CyrilRamaphosa:
For the Western progressives on the flotilla,Gaza was just the backdrop. The real story for them was themselves.
This flotilla was never about bringing aid to Gaza - the ships were barely able to carry supplies. It was always about spectacle.
In… https://t.co/nVEjsbw9Wv pic.twitter.com/dHqEleotER
— Embassy of Israel SA (@IsraelinSA) October 3,2025
United News - unews.co.za