JERUSALEM, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israel on Friday declared South Africa's senior diplomatic representative persona non grata after its own charge d'affaires to South Africa was ordered to leave the country.
The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced the decision in a statement, ordering the South African diplomat Shaun Byneveldt to leave Israel within 72 hours.
Byneveldt serves as South Africa's Ambassador to Palestine at the South African Representative Office in Ramallah, West Bank. However, he is accredited through and subject to the Israeli ministry.
The statement said the decision follows South Africa's "baseless step taken against the charge d'affaires of Israel in South Africa."
Earlier in the day, South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation (DIRCO) declared Israeli Charge d'Affaires Ariel Seidman persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.
South Africa said the decision follows a series of "violations of diplomatic norms and practice" by Seidman, which it described as posing "a direct challenge to South Africa's sovereignty."
"These 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," the department said.
Relations between Israel and South Africa have sharply deteriorated during the Gaza conflict.
South Africa has intensified its criticism of Israel, condemned its military operations in Gaza, and taken legal action against it in international forums, including filing a case at the International Court of Justice. ■
