US condemns South Africa's expulsion of Israeli diplomat

WASHINGTON, Feb 3 (Reuters) - ⁠The United States ⁠on ‍Tuesday condemned South Africa's decision to expel Israel's top diplomat last week, a State ‍Department spokesperson said, calling the African nation's step ​a part of prioritizing "grievance politics."

"Expelling a diplomat for calling out ​the African National Congress party's ties to Hamas and other antisemitic radicals prioritizes grievance politics over the good of South Africa and ​its citizens," Tommy Pigott, the State Department's deputy spokesperson, said on X.

South Africa's embassy in Washington ​had no immediate comment.

On Friday, South Africa declared the top diplomat at ‌Israel's embassy persona non grata and ordered him out within 72 hours.

It accused him of "unacceptable ​violations of diplomatic norms and ⁠practice," including insulting South Africa's president.

Israel responded by expelling South Africa's senior diplomatic representative ‌to its country.

Israel and South Africa have had strained relations since South Africa in 2024 brought a genocide case in ‌the International Court of Justice against Israel over its assault ‌on Gaza.

Multiple rights groups, experts and scholars have also called Israel's assault a genocide. Israel denies that and called its actions ‍self-defense following an October 2023 Hamas attack.

The genocide case has also contributed to U.S. ⁠President Donald Trump's attacks on Pretoria, including verbal scolding, trade sanctions and an executive order last year cutting U.S. funding.

(Reporting by Jasper Ward and Kanishka Singh in Washington; Editing by Jacqueline Wong)

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