South Africa ordered Israel's top diplomat to leave the country within 72 hours yesterday, citing a "series of violations" and prompting the Israeli government to expel Pretoria's own diplomatic representative.
Ties between the nations are already strained by South Africa's case before the UN top court in 2023 to argue that Israel's war on Gaza amounts to genocide.
The South African foreign ministry said it had informed Israel that its charge d'affaires, Ariel Seidman, was "persona non grata" and "required to depart from the Republic within 72 hours".
"This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty," it said.
Breaches included "the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks" on President Cyril Ramaphosa, the statement said.
The foreign ministry also accused the embassy of a "deliberate failure" to inform South Africa of visits by senior Israeli officials.
The Israeli foreign ministry swiftly responded that South Africa's senior diplomatic representative, Shaun Byneveldt, "is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours".
South African officials were angered by a tweet from the Israeli embassy in November that commented: "A rare moment of wisdom and diplomatic clarity from President Ramaphosa."
The post was in reaction to a news story citing Ramaphosa as saying "boycott politics doesn't work", in reference to US President Donald Trump's decision to not attend the G20 summit in Johannesburg.
South African government officials also condemned as a breach of protocol a visit by an Israeli delegation this month to the Eastern Cape province where delegates reportedly offered to provide water, healthcare and agriculture expertise.
South Africa is sharply critical of Israel and largely supportive of the Palestinian cause.
The government filed a case against Israel with the International Court of Justice in 2023 saying that its war on Gaza — which followed the October 2023 storming of Israel by fighters from the Palestinian group Hamas — breached the 1948 UN Genocide Convention.
Israel has denied that accusation.
When more than 150 Palestinians flew into South Africa in November without departure stamps from Israel on their passports, South African Foreign Minister Ronald Lamola said there appeared to be "a clear agenda to cleanse Palestinians out of Gaza and the West Bank".
There have been regular protests in South Africa against the Israeli government's and military's actions in Gaza, including calls for the embassy in Pretoria to be closed.
South Africa's ties with the Trump administration — a strong ally of Israel — have also deteriorated over the past year, with the case before the ICJ a major sticking point.