Israel declared South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Chargé d’affaires Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata on Friday, giving him 72 hours to leave the country, according to a statement from the Israeli foreign affairs ministry.
The action comes in response to South Africa’s earlier decision on Friday, in which it declared Israel’s chargé d’affaires, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata, according to South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry, News.Az reports, citing The Jerusalem Post.
Seidman is required to depart from the country within 72 hours, the ministry said in a statement on its website.
It went on to accused 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 ministry said.
Israel’s diplomatic mission in Pretoria did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
The Israeli foreign affairs ministry statement referred to South Africa’s action against the Israeli diplomat Seidman as “false attacks on Israel in the international arena.”
