Part of the Israeli delegation expelled from the opening session of the African Union Summit

18 Feb. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Part of the Israeli delegation participating in the opening session of the African Union Summit in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, has been expelled from the conference room in a new episode of the open dispute after the country’s declaration, despite the opposition from various member states, as an observer of the organization.

The Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs has confirmed the expulsion, among others, of the deputy director for Africa of the Ministry, Sharon Bar-li, in a decision that, according to the African Union, has been given because the diplomat lacked an invitation to the event .

Israel has taken these expulsions as a “very serious” diplomatic incident and has assured that the diplomat and her companions had received the status of accredited observers, according to a Foreign Affairs statement collected by the ‘Jerusalem Post’.

In contrast, the spokesperson for the Presidency of the African Union, Ebba Kalondo, has assured that the expelled diplomats did not have permission to be there. Only the Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, Aleli Admasu, had been invited to the event, according to statements collected by Radio France Internationale (RFI).

Israel rejoined the AU as an observer in July 2021, when the then-African Union commission chairman and former Chadian prime minister, Musa Faki Mahamat, announced the move with the support of the group’s then-chairman, the president of the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Felix Tshisekedi.

The measure was rejected by 21 AU member states, including South Africa, Algeria, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Botswana, in solidarity with the Palestinian cause. The debate that these countries requested on this issue has since been postponed.

In this sense, the Israeli Foreign Ministry has regretted that “the African Union has ended up as a hostage to countries like South Africa or Algeria”, which it has accused of acting “guided by hatred and controlled by Iran”.

“We ask the African countries to be united in the face of these actions that do nothing but harm to the organization and the entire continent,” the Ministry has indicated.