Israel’s declaration of South Africa’s ambassador to Palestine, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, as persona non grata is based on misrepresentation of facts, thedepartment of international relations & co-operation(Dirco) contends. On Friday the department announced the government’s decision to declare Ariel Seidman, the chargé d’affaires of the Israeli embassy, persona non grata and gave him 72 hours to leave South Africa. In retaliation, Israel’s foreign affairs ministry said in a statement that “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, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours.
Additional steps will be considered in due course.” The department’s records show Byneveldt as South Africa’s diplomat in Palestine, not Israel, and spokesperson Chrispin Phiri confirmed that he was based in Ramallah on the West Bank. “Shaun Byneveldt is 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.
This underscores Israel’s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood,” Phiri said. It remains unclear whether South Africa will order Byneveldt to come back to the country. Phiri told Business Day that the department will advise on the matter after consultations this week.
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This underscores Israel’s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood. The department described the move to order Seidman to leave South Africa as a decisive measure after a “series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty”. “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 diplomatic ties with Israel remain tense after the country applied to the International Court of Justice, accusing Israel of committing genocide against Palestinians after the attacks by Hamas on Israel on October 7 2023.
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