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[QUOTE="Queen, post: 85872, member: 27"]
South Africa kicked out Israel’s top stand-in diplomat after protocol blowups, torching already icy ties and daring blowback from Washington.

Diplomat shown the door in Pretoria
[LIST]
[*]Ariel Seidman was declared persona non grata by South Africa.
[*]Met officials on Friday and got the message directly.
[*]Given 72 hours to pack up and exit.
[*]Held the Chargé d’Affaires role at Israel’s embassy.
[/LIST]
Why officials pulled the trigger
[LIST]
[*]Department of International Relations and Cooperation cited diplomatic norm violations.
[*]Accused of insults aimed at Cyril Ramaphosa via official channels.
[*]Flagged undisclosed visits by Israeli senior figures.
[*]Framed it as breaching the Vienna Convention.
[/LIST]
Context behind the bad blood
[LIST]
[*]South Africa downgraded relations after clashing with Israel over Palestinian policy.
[*]Cut its Tel Aviv presence back to a liaison office.
[*]Left Israel without a full ambassador posted.
[*]Kept ties in a visibly chilled state.
[/LIST]
Wider fallout risks
[LIST]
[*]United States sits close to Israel and could bristle.
[*]Pressure is likely aimed at Pretoria’s foreign policy stance.
[*]Signals hard lines on sovereignty and respect.
[*]Leaves bilateral trust badly scorched.
[/LIST]
[/QUOTE]

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