South Africa declares Israel’s chargé d’affaires persona non grata

OHANNESBURG, Jan. 30 (YPA) -South Africa has expelled Israel’s top diplomat in the country for “violating diplomatic norms”, including making “insulting remarks” against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, Reuters reported.

Ariel Seidman, chargé d’affaires at the Israeli embassy, has been declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave the country, South Africa’s foreign ministry said in a statement.

The ministry accused embassy chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty”.

“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 (South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry) of purported visits by senior Israeli officials,” the statement read.

The move follows South Africa’s legal case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in December 2023 under the Genocide Convention, accusing Israeli occupation forces of committing serious violations against Palestinians in the occupied territories.

@E.Y.M