South Africas president, Cyril Ramaphosa. His country and Israel have long been at odds, over the support of the Palestinian cause by the South African government. Photograph: Themba HadebeAPView image in fullscreenSouth Africas president, Cyril Ramaphosa. His country and Israel have long been at odds, over the support of the Palestinian cause by the South African government. Photograph: Themba HadebeAPSouth Africa expels top Israeli diplomat over insulting attacks on presidentAriel Seidman declared persona non grata and given 72 hours to leave country after remarks on social mediaSouth Africa and Israel have engaged in a tit-for-tat expulsion of senior diplomats, after South Africa ordered Israels chargé daffaires to leave within 72 hours, citing insulting attacks on South Africas president, Cyril Ramaphosa, on social media.Ariel Seidman, the chargé daffaires at Israels embassy in Pretoria, was declared persona non grata by South Africas department for international relations and cooperation (DIRCO) in a statement on its website on Friday afternoon.This decisive measure follows a series of unacceptable violations of diplomatic norms and practice which pose a direct challenge to South Africas sovereignty, the statement said.These violations include the repeated use of official Israeli social media platforms to launch insulting attacks against His Excellency President Cyril Ramaphosa, and a deliberate failure to inform DIRCO of purported visits by senior Israeli officials.With
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