The AU Commission chief confirmed that Israel was not invited to the summit the weekend the Israeli ambassador was dismissed.
The African Union said Israel’s observer status in the bloc was suspended, which is why it was not invited to attend the summit over the weekend.
The news was announced by Israeli Ambassador Sharon Bar-li. It was deleted He attempted to attend the African Union’s annual summit in Ethiopia on Saturday using a non-transferable invitation issued only to Aleli Admus, Israel’s ambassador to the African Union.
A video circulating on social media showed security guards escorting Barley from an AU assembly hall in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
AU Commission Chairman Moussa Faki Mahamat told reporters on Sunday, “The status is suspended until this Commission is able to deliberate … That is why we are asking Israeli officials to the summit,” he said, adding that an investigation into Saturday’s incident was ongoing.
An Israeli foreign ministry spokesman said Bar-li was an “accredited observer tagged to immigration” and that the AU was “held hostage by a few extremist states like Algeria and South Africa.” criticized. by Iran’.
The incident highlighted a pan-African altercation over a one-sided conflict Decided in 2021 Provoked several member states’ protests by Mahamat to grant Israel observer status.
Israel has achieved observer status after two decades of diplomatic efforts. Previously in that role in the Organization of African Unity (OAU), attempts to regain it have long been blocked after the OAU was dismantled and replaced by the AU in her 2002. rice field.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said at the time that the new status would allow Israel and the AU to forge stronger cooperation on various fronts, including fighting the coronavirus and preventing the “spread of extremist terrorism” on the African continent. rice field.
Last year’s AU Summit interrupted the discussion A head of state committee was set up to consider whether to withdraw the accreditation and to address the issue.
The South African government said the African Union’s decision to give Israel its status was “all the more shocking in a year when Palestinian oppressed people were hunted down by devastating bombing and continued illegal settlement of their land. ” he said.
South Africa established formal diplomatic relations in 1995, one year after the end of apartheid, and supports the Palestinian cause. In 2019, it downgraded the Tel Aviv embassy to a liaison office.
