Washington expels South Africa's Hamas-supporting ambassador

The United States has expelled South African Ambassador Ebrahim Rasool after U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio on Friday designated the envoy Persona Non Grata and denounced him as a “race-baiting politician.”

Washington decided to expel Rasool after he had claimed that U.S. President Donald Trump was "leading a global white supremacist" movement. 

"South Africa's Ambassador to the United States is no longer welcome in our great country," Rubio wrote in a post on 𝕏. "We have nothing to discuss with him and so he is considered PERSONA NON GRATA."

Rubio also accused the South African envoy of harboring hostility towards Trump and the United States. 

In response, the South African government responded that it had "noted the regrettable expulsion" of its envoy in Washington and called for mutually beneficial relations with the U.S.

Chrispin Phiri, spokesperson for South Africa's Department of International Relations and Cooperation, wrote on 𝕏 that the South African government "will engage through the diplomatic channel" without elaborating. 

Rasool, a Muslim, is a vocal supporter of the Hamas terrorist organization, which openly calls for Israel’s destruction. The South African envoy reportedly claimed that he is a proud owner of a keffiyeh signed by the late Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh.

Rasool has expressed hostility towards Israel and the Jewish people. In May 2018, he openly rejected Israel’s existence, distorting Jewish identity and history. 

“I do not support Israel as ‘Jewish’ just as I do not support any religiously exclusive state. Zionism is in danger of making itself a pejorative term through its morality-free unconditional support for any & all actions by Israel,” Rasool wrote on 𝕏.

He has accused Israel of “apartheid” and systematically embraced anti-Zionist and anti-Jewish movements worldwide. 

The South African envoy has encouraged close relations with the Islamic ayatollah regime in Iran. He has also been a leading advocate for South Africa’s ongoing 'genocide' case against Israel at the International Court of Justice (ICJ).

The South African government has refrained from condemning Hamas' massacre of 1,200 Israelis and kidnapping of 251 from southern Israeli border communities on Oct. 7, 2023. Instead, it has accused Israel of starving and committing genocide against Palestinians in Gaza during the Iron Swords War.

In November 2024, the report, "South Africa, Hamas, Iran, and Qatar: The Hijacking of the ANC and the International Court of Justice," revealed that the Iranian regime had financed South Africa’s genocide case against Israel at the ICJ. 

Israel has strongly rejected the charges of genocide and emphasized that it is exercising its right to defend itself against terrorism.

The United States and leading European countries, such as Germany, have also rejected the accusations against Israel presented by the South African government. 

"On October 7, 2023, Hamas terrorists brutally attacked, tortured, killed and kidnapped innocent people in Israel,” the German government stated in January 2024. “Hamas's goal is to wipe out Israel. Since then, Israel has been defending itself against the inhumane attack by Hamas."