{"id":49166,"date":"2026-02-05T04:41:25","date_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:41:25","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/?p=49166"},"modified":"2026-02-05T04:41:25","modified_gmt":"2026-02-05T04:41:25","slug":"us-questions-pretorias-foreign-policies-after-expulsion-israeli-ambassador","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/2026\/02\/05\/us-questions-pretorias-foreign-policies-after-expulsion-israeli-ambassador\/","title":{"rendered":"US questions Pretoria&#8217;s foreign policies after expulsion of Israeli ambassador"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p><h2>Dirco ordered Ariel Seidman to leave the country within 72 hours after accusing him of violations that challenge South Africa\u2019s sovereignty.<\/h2>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>The United States (US) State Department has questioned South Africa\u2019s foreign policies after the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) declared Ariel Seidman, the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires at the Israeli Embassy in Pretoria, persona non grata.<\/p>\n<p>In March last year, the American government expelled South Africa\u2019s Ambassador, Ebrahim Rasool, following comments about the Trump administration.<\/p>\n<p>Last week, Dirco ordered Seidman to leave the country within 72 hours after accusing him of violations that challenge South Africa\u2019s sovereignty.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThese violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform Dirco of purported visits by senior Israeli officials,\u201d Dirco spokesperson Phiri said.<\/p>\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-poor-foreign-policy\">\u2018Poor foreign policy\u2019<\/h2>\n<p>The US, which is a staunch ally of Israel, was not happy, with the State Department principal deputy spokesperson Tommy Pigott slamming the move.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSouth Africa\u2019s recent decision to expel Israel\u2019s top diplomat is another example of its poor foreign policy choices.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cExpelling a diplomat for calling out the African National Congress party\u2019s ties to Hamas and other antisemitic radicals prioritises grievance politics over the good of South Africa and its citizens,\u201d Piggot said.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:\u00a0Parliament votes to sever ties with Israel and close Israeli embassy in SA<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-sa-foreign-policy\">SA foreign policy<\/h3>\n<p>In 2024, President Cyril Ramaphosa reaffirmed South Africa\u2019s foreign policy as a vital element of the country\u2019s progress, rooted in principles of \u201cactive non-alignment\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSince the advent of democracy, South Africa\u2019s foreign policy has been based on what our forebears inscribed in the Freedom Charter in 1955, when they declared that: \u201cSouth Africa shall be a fully independent state which respects the rights and the sovereignty of all nations; South Africa shall strive to maintain world peace and the settlement of all international disputes by negotiation \u2013 not war,\u201d Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n<p>The president echoed Pretoria\u2019s stance again in 2025, saying that South Africa\u2019s foreign policy is not determined by outside forces and will always be shaped by national interests and constitutional values.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cSouth Africa\u2019s National Interest Framework Policy Document, published in 2022, is clear that it is in the country\u2019s national interest to forge strategic alliances that support economic partnerships and trading arrangements that favour, advance, and safeguard our national interest,\u201d Ramaphosa said.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-link-to-hamas\">Link to Hamas<\/h3>\n<p>In terms of Piggot\u2019s claims of links to Hamas, Pretoria has consistently denied having direct ties with Hamas, stating that its support is for the Palestinian people and the Palestinian Authority, not the militant group.<\/p>\n<p>Despite these denials, reports in 2025 emerged regarding a potential US lawsuit alleging South African officials had advance knowledge of or collaborated with Hamas and Iran, which the government dismissed as \u201cunverified assertions.\u201d <\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:\u00a0SA won\u2019t drop ICJ case against Israel, even if Trump waives restrictions \u2013 Dirco<\/strong><\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-hamas-officials\">Hamas officials<\/h3>\n<p>In 2023, senior\u00a0Hamas\u00a0officials denied they have a relationship with the South African government.<\/p>\n<p><span style=\"box-sizing: border-box; margin: 0px; padding: 0px;\">Senior Hamas leader, Ismail Haniyeh, was reported to have sent a message to South Africa\u2019s then-minister of international relations and cooperation, Naledi Pandor,\u00a0asking her for humanitarian aid in Gaza.<\/span><\/p>\n<p>This was how Pandor set out to clarify a record of a phone call between herself and the Hamas leader. She said the call was in response to Haniyeh\u2019s request for assistance in Gaza, rather than an expression of support for any actions on the ground.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs a political party, Hamas does not have relations with the government of South Africa. However, Hamas has a relationship with the African National Congress (ANC) and with civil society parties and organisations,\u201d \u00a0Emad Saber from the South African Hamas office said in a written reply.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-anc-meets-hamas\">ANC meets Hamas<\/h3>\n<p>Minister in the Presidency Khumbudzo Ntshavheni said the government had no plans to meet the Hamas officials, but did not rule out the possibility.<\/p>\n<p>However, the ANC did meet the Hamas delegation, which was shared by secretary-general Fikile Mbalula on X.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThis afternoon, the ANC delegation and the general-secretary of SACP, Solly Mapaila, held a bilateral meeting with the Hamas and Fatah delegations of Palestine at Chief Albert Luthuli House.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAs the ANC, we support the Palestinian people. We have been clear on our stance even when we received attacks on it. The Palestinian people must be supported until their freedom is attained. Even as we celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Passing of Madiba, the People of Palestine are not free, and the Sahrawi People are also not free. This must come to an end!\u201d Mbalula tweeted.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-israel-retaliates\">Israel retaliates<\/h3>\n<p>Following Dirco\u2019s decision ordering Seideman to leave the country, Israel declared South Africa\u2019s senior diplomatic representative persona non grata and gave him 72 hours to leave.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa\u2019ar decided \u2013 following South Africa\u2019s false attacks against Israel in the international arena and the unilateral, baseless step taken against the charg\u00e9 d\u2019affaires of Israel in South Africa \u2013 that South Africa\u2019s senior diplomatic representative, Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt, is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cAdditional steps will be considered in due course,\u201d the ministry said.<\/p>\n<p>Byneveldt is\u00a0South Africa\u2019s ambassador to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah.<\/p>\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-relations\">Relations<\/h3>\n<p>Phiri responded to Tel Aviv\u2019s decision to declare Byneveldt persona non grata.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cMr Shaun Byneveldt is the ambassador to the State of Palestine, not Israel. Israel\u2019s obstructionism forces a farcical arrangement where he is accredited through the very state that occupies his host country. This underscores Israel\u2019s refusal to honour international consensus on Palestinian statehood.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Relations between Pretoria and Tel Aviv deteriorated after Israel launched military attacks on Gaza after Hamas\u2019 7 October 2023 attacks.<\/p>\n<p>In November 2023, South Africa withdrew its diplomats, while\u00a0Israel\u2019s Foreign Ministry recalled its ambassador to South Africa, Eliav Belotserkovsky, for consultations.<\/p>\n<p><strong>ALSO READ:\u00a0At least 50 journalists killed since Israel\u2019s bombing of Gaza \u2013 CPJ<\/strong><\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\" async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<!-- Africa tv video display -->\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-1669381584671856\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"3579572842\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"auto\"\r\n     data-full-width-responsive=\"true\"><\/ins>\r\n<script data-jetpack-boost=\"ignore\">\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n#questions #Pretorias #foreign #policies #expulsion #Israeli #ambassador<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Dirco ordered Ariel Seidman to leave the country within 72 hours after accusing him of violations that challenge South Africa\u2019s&hellip;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":49167,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-49166","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-mzansi"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49166","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=49166"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49166\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":49168,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/49166\/revisions\/49168"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/49167"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=49166"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=49166"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/eduzim.co.zw\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=49166"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}