South Africa orders expulsion of Israeli envoy, declared persona non grata
South Africa is expelling Israel’s envoy to the country, the foreign affairs ministry announced, accusing the Israeli official of engaging in “unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms” that challenge South African sovereignty.
The Department of International Relations and Cooperation said on Friday that it was giving Ariel Seidman, the charge d’affaires at the Israeli embassy, 72 hours to leave South Africa after declaring him persona non grata.
It accused Seidman of launching “insulting attacks” against South African President Cyril Ramaphosa on social media as well as “a deliberate failure” to inform the ministry “of purported visits by senior Israeli officials”.
“Such actions represent a gross abuse of diplomatic privilege and a fundamental breach of the Vienna Convention. They have systematically undermined the trust and protocols essential for bilateral relations,” the department said in a statement.
“We urge the Israeli Government to ensure its future diplomatic conduct demonstrates respect for the Republic and the established principles of international engagement.”
The announcement drew a rapid response from the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which said it had declared senior South African diplomat, Shaun Edward Byneveldt, persona non grata and was giving him 72 hours to leave the country.
“Additional steps will be considered in due course,” the Israeli ministry said in a statement shared on social media.
Byneveldt is South Africa’s ambassador to the State of Palestine, working out of an office in Ramallah in the occupied West Bank, according to a South African government website.
Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa’s foreign affairs ministry, said “Israel’s obstructionism forces a farcical arrangement where [Byneveldt] is accredited through the very state that occupies his host country”.
“This underscores Israel’s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood,” Phiri wrote on X.
MSF says it will not hand over staff details to Israeli authorities
Doctors Without Borders, known by its French initials MSF, has said it will not provide Israeli authorities with the personal details of its staff working in Gaza and across the occupied Palestinian territory, citing concerns for staff safety and a lack of assurances over how the information would be used.
The decision on Friday follows criticism of MSF’s statement last week that it was prepared to share the names of its staff under strict conditions – a position that sparked concern among aid workers and rights advocates.
The organisation has since said it was unable to secure the guarantees it sought from Israeli authorities and has now ruled out sharing any staff data “under the current circumstances”, citing risks to its workers’ safety.
Israel demanded last year that several international aid organisations hand over detailed information about their staff, funding and operations as part of what it described as new “security and transparency standards”.
The move has been widely criticised by humanitarian groups, who say it risks further endangering aid workers in a context where Israel’s military has already killed more than 1,700 health workers since the start of its genocidal war against Palestinians in Gaza in October 2023, including at least 15 MSF employees.
