Fayet–Iliopoulos terms require an Abelian gauge factor (${\xi }_a{f}^a{}_{bc}=0$)

A constant linear auxiliary-field term ${\xi }_a{D}^a$ is gauge-invariant only when $\xi$ is an invariant vector in the dual adjoint representation. Equivalently, it annihilates all Lie brackets. A simple non-Abelian Lie algebra equals its commutator algebra and has no such nonzero vector. Abelian factors do admit the term. Identifying a Fayet–Iliopoulos parameter in a simple non-Abelian theory therefore requires setting it to zero, rather than treating it as an arbitrary coupling.