Sending home a diplomat who would help

Last Friday morning started with a sense of calm, celebrating the warm reaction that our community got on the Nelson Mandela Bridge in Johannesburg, when its members went back after two years to commemorate all the hostages being back home. Commuters and other ordinary folk engaged with care and compassion regarding the plight of the hostages in Gaza. 

I have no doubt that Ariel Seidman, the fabulous deputy Israeli ambassador or chargé d’affaires, like the rest of us, was looking forward to a peaceful and calm family Shabbat. 

However, our sense of calm disappeared so fast around lunchtime on learning that the South African government was kicking Seidman out the country, giving him just 72 hours to get out. Before even considering the politics of this, imagine the logistics of a father of a young family having to evacuate his home in three days that included Shabbat. What on earth did the government think he was going to do that they gave him such a short time to get out? I mean, the man is the furthest thing from a criminal. What was the urgency? 

My first thoughts on hearing this, other than we needed to get the story out to our community, was about Seidman, who I have come to know a bit. 

He is a humble man of such integrity and honesty. His values are entrenched in engaging across cultures and uplifting those with less. So much so, he held a Chanukah/Christmas interfaith ceremony to include different faiths and cultures in our celebration. Just that alone gives one a clear understanding of the man. 

Seidman’s social media message at the beginning of 2026 was, “Strong relationships are built on respect, dialogue, and shared values. As we start 2026, we remain committed to open engagement, cultural exchange, and positive connections with South African society, across communities, sectors, and generations. May it be a wonderful year of cooperation and friendship.” 

Unfortunately, the South African government didn’t get the memo about him, and made sure that it wasn’t going to be such a year, at least not in regards to Israel or the South African Jewish community. 

Seidman is a man who loves to salsa dance with his beloved wife, and to live a clean, fit, and healthy lifestyle. More than anything, he enjoys the simple things in life and spending time with his daughters and wife. 

In December, he visited Eswatini – more commonly known as Swaziland to us old timers – where as part of the embassy’s outreach, he donated new school shoes to children who needed them. 

“Watching their joy and excitement was deeply moving and special,” he wrote of his visit. “Diplomacy is often about policy, negotiations, and long documents. But it’s also about people. Moments like this, give a special meaning to what we do.” 

Sadly, Seidman won’t be able to do good in South Africa again … for now at least. 

This whole saga reeks of double standards and pure nastiness. 

I do get that the Israeli embassy’s social media posts had become cheeky and perhaps challenging to the government. However, they could have been a whole lot worse than they were. And if you look at what goes onto social media these days, those posts were comparatively tame. I also get that perhaps it’s not diplomatic protocol, but how are cheeky tweets so outrageous that they compel the expulsion of a diplomat? 

The timing of this clearly has a whole lot more to do with Israel’s visiting ambassador, David Saranga, going to the Eastern Cape and offering to help uplift the province’s beleaguered infrastructure. It was all about assisting the population to access running water, improved healthcare, and using technology to assist in agriculture. 

Now, I acknowledge the Eastern Cape premier saw this as insulting because Saranga went in with traditional leaders and was going ahead without provincial government’s stamp of approval. 

However, since when is genuine help meant to be an insult? 

We know that the infrastructure in the Eastern Cape is dire. For example, in Makhanda, the town in which my alma mater, Rhodes University, is located, there is a severe, long-term water crisis. Citizens are generally rationed to 50 litres of water a day because of chronic shortages and dry taps lasting weeks. This problem is apparently driven by drought, ageing infrastructure, and mismanagement. 

Now, imagine if Israeli technology was allowed to turn that around, which we know it could? Would that be insulting or a brilliant feat that would help Makhandans, university students, and scholars at all the schools in the town? 

This whole situation is so ugly and unnecessary. 

The African National Congress (ANC) has created an enemy out of Israel allegedly because of its age-old relationship with the Palestinians and more recently the leadership of the Islamic Republic of Iran. So, is the enemy of my friend also my enemy? 

Instead of being open to finding out about the country, what it stands for, its values and morals, the ANC sees everything Israel does as bad. 

Israel has helped so many African countries with dire needs, but try as it might in South Africa, the government won’t accept its offers of assistance. 

This is so distressing because Israel has the potential to really help South Africa and until this week, still seemed willing to help just for the sake of helping. 

But somehow, this offer of help got twisted into being an insult to the government. And that resulted in Seidman being sent home before he could even begin to have a real impact on this country or community. 

Realistically, South Africa’s standoff with Israel won’t harm or have a significant impact on the Jewish state. It will only really hurt the South African Jewish community. 

The embassy is important to us for maintaining our deep emotional, religious, and familial bonds with Israel, among other reasons. 

So, in essence, the South African government is punishing us for something we had nothing to do with, and which wasn’t meant to harm but to help. 

I guess politics is a dirty game, but come on! 

Shabbat shalom! 

Peta Krost 

Editor