South Africa’s foreign ministry has declared Israel’s most senior diplomat in the country, Ariel Seidman, “persona non grata” and ordered him to leave within 72 hours.
The decision was announced on Friday, 30 January 2026, by South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, the government body that handles the country’s foreign policy.
Israel is a country in the Middle East, while South Africa is a major nation at the southern tip of Africa. The envoy affected is Israel’s charge d’affaires, meaning the acting head of its diplomatic mission in Pretoria, South Africa’s administrative capital.
In a statement, the ministry said the order followed what it described as repeated breaches of diplomatic rules that it believes challenge South Africa’s sovereignty. Okay News reports that the ministry cited “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice” as the basis for the expulsion.
South Africa accused the Israeli mission of using official social media accounts to make insulting remarks about President Cyril Ramaphosa, South Africa’s head of state and government.
The ministry also said the embassy repeatedly failed to properly notify South African authorities about alleged visits to the country by senior Israeli officials, which it described as a serious violation of diplomatic protocol.
According to the statement, South Africa said the actions amounted to an abuse of diplomatic privileges and a breach of the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the international agreement that sets the rules for how embassies and diplomats should operate in host countries.
The expulsion comes amid longstanding tension between South Africa and Israel over the war in Gaza, the Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast. South Africa has been a leading critic of Israel’s military operations there and, in December 2023, filed a case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations (UN) top court, arguing that Israel’s actions in Gaza amounted to genocide.
The latest diplomatic dispute also follows reports that an Israeli delegation recently visited South Africa’s Eastern Cape province, where they were said to have offered support and expertise in areas such as water, healthcare, and agriculture. The visit drew criticism, with concerns raised that it did not follow the normal channels required for official diplomatic engagement.
South Africa said it has formally informed Israel of the decision and expects Seidman to depart the country within the stated 72-hour window.
