Posts use old video to falsely claim S. African ambassador was filmed arguing with Israeli soldier

“Why don’t you let the people pick olives - SA ambassador to Israel,” reads a post on X (formerly Twitter) published on December 10, 2023.

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Screenshot of the false post, taken on December 10, 2023

The post, liked more than 31,000 times, includes a video of two men arguing, one of whom is wearing a uniform. At least two other people standing in the background are armed and wearing military fatigues.

“Please leave,” the uniformed man says.

“No, I will not. You’re harassing people for picking olive oils,” the other responds.

The uniformed man asks the other if he is carrying a diplomatic passport, to which he responds yes.

He then accuses the alleged diplomat of filming the scene to create an incident.

“South African ambassador making the whole Africa proud (sic),” reads one comment.

“South Africans stand with Palestine…as you can see our ambassador in the clip,” says another.

Similar posts were shared elsewhere on TikTok and X.

However, the claim that this video shows the South African ambassador arguing with an Israeli soldier is false.

Not the ambassador

Using a keyword search for “South African diplomat argues with Israeli soldier,” AFP Fact Check found a 2021 Turkish news report detailing the filmed dispute (archived here).

“South African diplomat Lesiba Machaba confronts an Israeli soldier who attempts to prevent Palestinian farmers from harvesting olives in occupied West Bank,” reads the video’s description.

Several other accounts also shared the video in November 2021 (archived here and here).

AFP Fact Check reached out to South Africa’s foreign ministry to confirm the identity of the diplomat in the video.

“He was not ambassador…he was an official at the South African mission in Ramallah,” the ministry said.

Ramallah is a city in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, where South Africa maintains a representative office (archived here).

Diplomatic tensions

South Africa has long been a vocal supporter of the Palestinian cause, with the ruling African National Congress (ANC) party often linking it to its struggle against apartheid.

In early November, it recalled all its diplomats from Israel, including its ambassador, and then joined four other nations in calling for an International Criminal Court Investigation into the conflict.

Israel followed suit, recalling its ambassador to Pretoria (archived here).

During a late November meeting of the BRICS group of nations, South Africa accused Israel of war crimes and “genocide” in the Palestinian territory (archived here).

AFP Fact Check has debunked other misinformation about the Israel-Hamas war, which you can read here.