Alwaght- Israeli regime's senior diplomat has been removed from the African Union’s annual summit in Ethiopia as a dispute over Tel Aviv’s accreditation to the bloc escalated.
A video posted on social media showed security personnel walking Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li out of the auditorium during the opening ceremony of the summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday.
An AU official told AFP news agency that the diplomat who was expelled had not been invited to the meeting, with a non-transferable invitation issued only to the regime’s ambassador to the African Union, Aleli Admasu.
"It is regrettable that the individual in question would abuse such a courtesy,” the official added.
Tel Aviv 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".
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 public diplomacy in South Africa’s Department of International Relations and Cooperation, told Reuters news agency.
"So, it’s not about South Africa or Algeria, it’s an issue of principle".
The dispute over Israeli regime’s observer status to the bloc was set in motion in July 2021 when then-chair of the AU Commission, Moussa Faki Mahamat, accepted unilaterally the country’s accreditation.
The move triggered an uproar from a number of member states demanding the status be withdrawn.
The protest was spearheaded by South Africa and Algeria, two powerful members who argued the decision flew in the face of AU statements supporting the occupied Palestinian territories.
South Africa’s governing party has historically been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.
Palestine already has observer status at the AU and pro-Palestinian language is typically featured in statements delivered at the AU’s annual summits.
In February last year, the AU decided to suspend the debate on whether to suspend Israel’s observer status for fear that a vote would have created an unprecedented rift in the 55-member body.
The then newly elected AU chairman, Macky Salk, said the vote would have been postponed until 2023, adding that a committee had been set up with the goal of consulting with member states and building consensus on the matter.
