Tricky Ties

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The African Union (AU) confirmed this week that Israel’s observer status to the pan-African bloc was suspended, an announcement that came shortly after an incident where an Israeli representative was prevented from attending this year’s summit, Al Jazeera reported.

Over the weekend, videos circulated on social media showing guards escorting Israeli ambassador Sharon Bar-li from the AU’s annual summit in Ethiopia’s capital of Addis Ababa. Bar-li attempted to attend the event using a non-transferable invitation issued only to Israel’s ambassador to Ethiopia, Aleli Admasu.

Israel’s foreign ministry criticized the move, saying that its representative was “an accredited observer with an entry tag.” It also accused the AU of being taken hostage by a “small number of extremist states like Algeria and South Africa, which are driven by hatred and controlled by Iran.”

But AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat said that Israel’s status has been suspended pending an ongoing discussion of its continued role as an observer, according to the Times of Israel.

The incident highlighted an internal conflict in the AU over the 2021 decision to grant Israel observer status, which triggered protests by a number of members.

South Africa – which supports the Palestinian cause – objected to the move at the time, saying that it came “in a year in which the oppressed people of Palestine were hounded by destructive bombardments and continued illegal settlements of the land.”

In 2021, Israel was at war with Hamas militants in the Gaza strip.

Meanwhile, the AU summit last year suspended a debate on whether to withdraw accreditation and formed a committee of chiefs of state to address the issue.

Israel had obtained the status after two decades of diplomatic efforts.

In 2021, it said that the new status would allow the Jewish nation and the bloc to foster stronger cooperation in various sectors, including the prevention “of the spread of extremist terrorism” on the African continent.