The Israeli regime’s observer status at the African Union has been suspended the 55-nation bloc declared on Sunday.
Chairperson of the African Union Commission Moussa Faki Mahamat made the remarks a day after an Israeli delegation was forced out of the opening ceremony of the AU summit in the Ethiopian capital city of Addis Ababa.
The AU will make its final decision on Israel’s observer membership at the summit to be held next year Faki added.
The incident highlighted a spat within the pan-African bloc over a 2021 decision by AU Commission chief to give Israel observer status.
The move was greeted with howls of protest by powerful member states including Algeria and South Africa.
Last year’s AU summit suspended a debate on whether to withdraw the accreditation and established a committee of heads of state to address the issue.
A committee of representatives from Algeria South Africa Senegal Cameroon the Democratic Republic of the Congo Rwanda and Nigeria has reportedly been set up to advise on the matter at next year’s summit.
“That means that the status is suspended until such time as this committee can deliberate… and so we did not invite Israeli officials to our summit” Faki told reporters on Sunday adding that an investigation was being conducted.
Video circulating on social media showed guards escorting the Israeli foreign ministry’s deputy director general for Africa Sharon Bar-li out of the AU assembly hall in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa.
