US criticizes South Africa’s expulsion of top Israeli diplomat

The US rebuked South Africa for expelling a top Israeli diplomat, the latest flare-up in tensions between the two nations.

South Africa’s recent decision to expel Ariel Seidman “is another example of its poor foreign-policy choices,” Tommy Pigott, the State Department’s deputy spokesperson, said in an X post on Wednesday. “Expelling a diplomat for calling out the African National Congress party’s ties to Hamas and other antisemitic radicals prioritizes grievance politics over the good of South Africa and its citizens.”

Senior South African officials met with Seidman last week to notify him that he’s been designated persona non grata. The measure was taken after the authorities in Pretoria issued him with two diplomatic rebukes in as many months.

Read: South Africa expels top Israeli diplomat, risking US ire

The violations included using social-media platforms to insult President Cyril Ramaphosa and failing to inform the South African government of purported visits by senior Israeli officials, Chrispin Phiri, spokesman for South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, said in a statement.

Israel responded by ordering South African diplomat Shaun Byneveldt to leave the country. Pretoria said Byneveldt was its chargé d’affaires to Palestine, not Israel.

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The US has objected to South Africa’s high-profile genocide case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, legal action that challenges a close American ally. At least 25 countries have since joined the application.

President Donald Trump last year froze almost all aid to Pretoria, claiming it had taken “aggressive positions” toward the US, including its close ties with Iran and Hamas, along with the ICJ case. Newly appointed US Ambassador to South Africa Leo Brent Bozell has said that defending Washington’s stance on Israel will be a “top priority” when he takes up the post.

South African lawmakers voted to downgrade the nation’s embassy in Israel in 2023 and its cabinet was poised to take a decision on the closing of the mission in 2025, though this hasn’t yet happened.

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South Africa’s ties with Israel have been strained by the ANC’s strong backing for Palestinian independence and its attempts to view that struggle through the lens of its own fight against White-minority rule. Officials have consistently accused Israel of practicing apartheid in its treatment of Palestinians, an allegation that’s been vehemently rejected.

Seidman’s expulsion also drew the ire of South Africa’s chief rabbi.

“South Africa’s expulsion of Israel’s senior diplomat is one of the most extreme diplomatic actions a government can take,” Warren Goldstein said in an X post on Tuesday. “It shows how much President Ramaphosa and his government hate Israel and the Jews.”

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The South African Jewish Board of Deputies also condemned the move, calling it “a troubling escalation in South Africa’s increasingly hostile diplomatic posture,” according to a statement.

© 2026 Bloomberg

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