By Kevin Akor
JERUSALEM (chatnewstv.com) — Israel on Friday declared South Africa’s ambassador to the State of Palestine, Shaun Byneveldt, persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours, escalating a diplomatic standoff after Pretoria expelled Israel’s chargé d’affaires.
South Africa’s foreign ministry said Byneveldt is accredited to the State of Palestine but operates through Israel, a long-standing diplomatic arrangement.
“Shaun Byneveldt is 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,” South Africa’s Foreign Ministry spokesperson, Chrispin Phiri, said in a post on X. “This underscores Israel’s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood.”
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the decision to expel the South African diplomat was taken by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Saar. It accused South Africa of making what it called “false attacks” against Israel in international forums and described Pretoria’s move against Israel’s envoy as “a unilateral, baseless step.”
“South Africa’s senior diplomatic representative, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours,” the ministry said, adding that “additional steps will be considered in due course.”
Earlier Friday, South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation said it had declared Israel’s acting ambassador, Ariel Seidman, persona non grata, giving him 72 hours to leave the country. The department cited “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice,” including remarks it said were insulting to President Cyril Ramaphosa.
Seidman has served as Israel’s chargé d’affaires in Pretoria since November 2023, when Israel recalled its ambassador after South Africa withdrew its diplomats from Tel Aviv amid the war in Gaza.
South Africa, which maintains relations with both Israel and Palestine, filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice in December 2023, accusing it of breaching its obligations under the Genocide Convention in Gaza. The court has since issued provisional measures ordering Israel to take steps to prevent acts of genocide.
More than 71,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 171,000 injured since October 2023, according to Gaza health authorities. Israel disputes aspects of those figures and says it targets militants while seeking to limit civilian harm.
