South Africa ordered Israel's top diplomat to leave the country within 72 hours, citing a "series of violations" and prompting the Israeli government to expel Pretoria's own diplomatic representative.
The South African foreign ministry said on Friday it had informed Israel that its charge d'affaires, Ariel Seidman, was "persona non grata" and "required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours".
"This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty," it said.
Breaches included "the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks" on President Cyril Ramaphosa, the statement said.
The foreign ministry also accused the embassy of a "deliberate failure" to inform South Africa of visits by senior Israeli officials.
The Israeli foreign ministry swiftly responded that South Africa's senior diplomatic representative, Shaun Byneveldt, "is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours".
In a statement on X, it accused Pretoria of "false attacks against Israel in the international arena" and described Seidman's expulsion as a "unilateral, baseless step".
Seidman was Israel's most senior representative in South Africa after Tel Aviv recalled its ambassador in 2023.
'Abuse of privilege'
South African officials were angered by a tweet from the Israeli embassy in November that commented: "A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa."
The post was in reaction to a news story citing Ramaphosa as saying "boycott politics doesn't work", in reference to US President Donald Trump's decision to not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
South African government officials also condemned as a breach of protocol a visit by an Israeli delegation this month to the Eastern Cape province where delegates reportedly offered to provide water, healthcare and agriculture expertise.
The visit was hosted by a traditional king from the Xhosa people who had met Israeli President Isaac Herzog in Israel in December.
The South African foreign ministry said it had not been informed of the visit, which included senior Israeli diplomat David Saranga.
It said diplomatic breaches by Israel "represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege".
Israel breaches UN Genocide Convention
"They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations," it said.
South Africa's foreign affairs spokesperson also hit back at Israel's tit-for-tat expulsion of Byneveldt, saying he was "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," spokesperson Chrispin Phiri said on X.
The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023, saying that its war on Gaza breached the 1948 United Nations Genocide Convention.
Israel’s genocidal war on Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 71,000 people, wounded over 171,000 others and devastated around 90 percent of civilian infrastructure, with UN estimates putting reconstruction costs at about $70 billion.
