Ariel Seidman declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave country after remarks on social media
South Africa has ordered Israel’s top diplomat to the country to leave within 72 hours, citing “insulting attacks” on South Africa’s president Cyril Ramaphosa on social media and the “abuse of diplomatic privilege”.
Ariel Seidman, the chargé d’affaires at Israel’s embassy in Pretoria, was declared persona non grata by South Africa’s department for international relations and cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement on its website on Friday afternoon. Israel’s embassy did not immediately respond to requests for comment.
“This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa’s sovereignty”, the statement said.
“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 of purported visits by senior Israeli officials.”
