South Africa moves to terminate ties with Israel
Shafaq News– Pretoria
South Africa is set to fully sever diplomatic relations with Israel, the US-based Al-Monitor reported on Sunday.
Citing Israeli diplomatic sources, the newspaper indicated that the historically sensitive relationship between Israel and South Africa has reached a critical juncture following a steady deterioration in recent months.
That trajectory has been reinforced by Pretoria’s earlier decision to give Israeli chargé d’affaires Ariel Seidman 72 hours to leave the country. Israel responded with a reciprocal step, granting South African diplomat Shaun Edward Bainfield the same deadline to depart.
When confirming the expulsion of the Israeli envoy, South Africa pointed to what it described as “a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms” by Israel. These included the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to post derogatory remarks about President Cyril Ramaphosa, as well as the failure of Israeli officials to notify the South African government in advance of diplomatic visits across the country.
Al-Monitor placed the current standoff within a long and complex history between Israel and South Africa. During South Africa’s apartheid era (1948–1994), the country remained among the few African states that did not cut diplomatic ties with Israel during the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. At the same time, Israel, despite publicly condemning apartheid, continued to strengthen its relationship with the apartheid regime, a move still viewed as hostile by South Africa’s current leadership.
Another shift emerged in 2001, when the UN World Conference against Racism in Durban marked a turning point, with South Africa and other African and Arab countries issuing a statement describing Zionism as a form of racism and labeling Israel an “apartheid state.”
Relations further eroded in the following decade, as Pretoria increasingly aligned with Palestine. In March 2023, the South African parliament voted on a non-binding resolution to downgrade Israel’s embassy to a liaison office. Additionally, a month after the October 7 Israeli war on Gaza erupted, South Africa filed a case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, accusing it of war crimes and genocide, while outlining plans to arrest Israeli soldiers holding dual South African citizenship who visit the country for alleged war crimes.
