File: The South African flag waving in the wind.
JERUSALEM - Israel said on Friday it had expelled South Africa's charge d'affaires in retaliation for its own representative's expulsion from the African country's administrative capital, Pretoria, by local authorities.
"Following South Africa's false attacks against Israel in the international arena and the unilateral, baseless step taken against the Charge d'Affaires of Israel in South Africa... South Africa's senior diplomatic representative, Minister Shaun Edward Byneveldt, is persona non grata and must leave Israel within 72 hours," Israel's foreign ministry said in a statement on X.
Earlier on Friday, South Africa's foreign ministry declared the most senior Israeli diplomat posted in Pretoria persona non grata and ordered him to leave the country within 72 hours.