The Israeli regime’s immediate reaction to South Africa’s decision to expel its ambassador – Mehr news agency RCO News Agency

According to the Mehr news agency, citing Al-Masri Al-Youm, the Israeli regime announced that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar have declared Sean Edward Baywildt, South Africa’s agent in the occupied territories, an undesirable element.

According to this decision, the Pretoria diplomatic representative has been given 72 hours to leave the occupied territories.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Israeli regime announced in a statement: In the next steps, additional measures will also be considered.

This action was taken in response to the decision of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of South Africa, which previously called Ariel Seidman, the Israeli regime’s agent in South Africa, an “undesirable element” and gave him 72 hours to leave the country.

South Africa’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs accused Seidman of “unacceptable violations of diplomatic customs and procedures” and described these actions as “a direct challenge to South African sovereignty.”

These developments are a continuation of the complaint that South Africa filed in December 2023 against the Israeli regime, based on the Convention on the Prohibition of Genocide; A complaint in which Zionist forces have been accused of committing serious violations of human rights and crimes against the Palestinian people. In recent years, relations between the two sides have become extremely tense, especially following the Zionist military operations against the Gaza Strip.

It should be noted that using the description of “undesirable element” is an official diplomatic measure that governments use if they decide to reject the presence of a foreign diplomat in their territory. According to the Vienna Convention on Diplomatic Relations, the host country is not required to provide an explanation for this decision. This action is usually used in situations of serious diplomatic disputes, provocative statements or activities, or to send a strong political message to another government.