By Elijah Koome
An X post published on September 27, 2026, by an account called Mega-Politics claimed that South Africa has cut diplomatic ties with Israel and ousted Israeli ambassadors. At the time of review, the post had garnered substantial traction, with 2.4k reposts, 7.1k likes, and 133 bookmarks. According to X data, the account that published this post is based in South Asia.
Background
South Africa has a long diplomatic relationship with Israel. In 1947, South Africa was one of the countries that voted for the UN Partition Plan that made provision for the creation of a Jewish State in the territory known as the Palestine Mandate, which had been under British rule. During the Apartheid era, South Africa and Israel established a strong economic and diplomatic relationship, with Israel supplying South Africa with arms and nuclear technology. After the collapse of the Apartheid regime in 1994, the new South African government took an increasingly unfriendly stance towards Israel because of its treatment of Palestinians.
In a visit to Israel in 1999, former president of South Africa Nelson Mandela urged Israel to withdraw from occupied lands and allow Palestinians to have their own state. In 2018, South Africa recalled its ambassador from Israel, citing the harsh treatment of Palestinian protesters in Gaza by Israeli forces. In December 2023, South Africa brought proceedings against Israel in the International Court of Justice (ICJ), claiming that Israel was committing acts of genocide in Gaza. Israel denied the claim, dismissing the allegations as blood libel. On January 30, 2026, South Africa expelled Ariel Seidman, Israel’s chargé d’affaires. Israel retaliated shortly afterwards by declaring South Africa’s envoy to Palestine a persona non grata.
Verification
A review of the official channels does not indicate that diplomatic ties between Israel and South Africa have been completely severed. On September 29, 2026, the X account of the Embassy of Israel in South Africa published a post welcoming Hen Feder, the new Deputy Chief of Mission.
In addition, there is no news from major outlets reporting that diplomatic contact between Israel and South Africa has been cut. While there are several articles covering previous diplomatic spats, there is no news specifically from September 2026 regarding further escalation of tension between South Africa and Israel. If this were the case, major news outlets would certainly have covered it.
Verdict
The claim that South Africa has ended all diplomatic ties with Israel is MISLEADING.
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