African Union chair confirms Israeli diplomat ejected from bloc's annual summit
A senior Israeli diplomat on Saturday (February 18) was removed from the African Union's annual summit in Ethiopia, as a dispute over Israel's accreditation to the bloc escalated.
Images posted online showed AU security personnel confronting the diplomat during the opening ceremony of the summit, before she left the auditorium.
However, Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat told the media that an investigation into how Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li was erroneously accredited would be launched.
"We have not invited any Israeli authorities, we are going to push this investigation to the fullest length to know where the error was coming from,” he said.
But Israel blamed the incident on South Africa and Algeria, two key nations in the 55-country bloc, saying they were holding the AU hostage and were driven by "hate".
"Israel looks harshly upon the incident in which the deputy director for Africa, Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was removed from the African Union hall despite her status as an accredited observer with entrance badges," Israel's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
It said the charge d'affaires at South Africa's embassy would be summoned for a reprimand.
"The attempt to cancel Israel's observer status has no basis in the organization's laws," the ministry said.
Meanwhile, South Africa rejected the claim, saying Israel's application for observer status at the AU has not been decided upon by the bloc.
"Until the AU takes a decision on whether to grant Israel observer status, you cannot have the country sitting and observing," Clayson Monyela, head of the public diplomacy in South Africa's department of international relations, told Reuters.
"So, it's not about South Africa or Algeria, it's an issue of principle."
South Africa's ruling party has historically been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause. The Algerian delegation at the summit was not immediately available for comment.
As the 36th Ordinary session of the Assembly of the Africa Union came to an end on Sunday, Faki also reported that heads of state meeting regarding the peace and security situation in DRC resolved to strengthen the capacity of the East African regional force stationed in eastern Congo.
Reuters
