South Africa on Friday expelledIsrael’schargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman, ordering him to leave the country within 72 hours, citing conduct it said was inconsistent with diplomatic norms and protocol. In a statement, thedepartment of international relations and cooperationreferenced official communications and engagements that allegedly took place without appropriate notification through established diplomatic channels. “This decisive action follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct threat to South Africa’s sovereignty,” its spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said.
Relations between South African and Israel have been stormy over Pretoria’s vocal criticism of Tel Aviv’s attacks onGazawhich have left more than 70,000 dead since late 2023. South Africa filed a case at theInternational Court of Justice,saying the attacks on Gaza in retaliation against coordinated attack by Hamas and allied Palestinian militants on Israel on 7 October 2023 amounted to a pattern of genocidal conduct under the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention. Earlier this week, Eastern Cape PremierOscar Mabuyanecriticised the Israeli embassy’s engagements with provincial institutions, saying visits and donations made without government approval breached diplomatic protocol and undermined South Africa’s sovereignty.
He said foreign relations must be conducted through established national channels and directed the provincial health department to investigate how donations were accepted without proper authorisation. Seidman had been serving as Israel’s chargé d’affaires in South Africa, effectively the acting head of mission in the absence of a resident ambassador. In the diplomatic hierarchy the role carries ambassador-level authority on the ground, making him the most senior Israeli representative physically present in the country at the time of his expulsion.
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Meanwhile, South African Friends of Israel held a protest outside the Nelson Mandela Foundation in Houghton, Johannesburg on Friday objecting to the chairpersonship and leadership ofNaledi Pandorat the foundation. Pandor led South Africa’s criticism of Israel during her term as minister of international relations and cooperation.
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