ADDIS ABABA
\nThe African Union has said that Israel\u2019s observer status at the bloc was suspended which is why it was not invited to attend the weekend summit.
\nThe news comes after Israeli ambassador Sharon Bar-li was removed from the African Union\u2019s annual summit in Ethiopia on Saturday as she attempted to attend using a non-transferable invitation issued only to Israel\u2019s ambassador to the African Union, Aleli Admasu.
\nVideo circulating on social media showed guards escorting Bar-li out of the AU assembly hall in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.
\n\u201cThe status is suspended until such time as this committee can deliberate \u2026 and so we did not invite Israeli officials to our summit,\u201d AU Commission chief Moussa Faki Mahamat told reporters on Sunday, adding that an investigation was being conducted into Saturday\u2019s incident.
\nA spokesperson for Israel\u2019s foreign ministry said Bar-li was \u201can accredited observer with an entry tag\u201d, and accused the AU of being taken hostage by a \u201csmall number of extremist states like Algeria and South Africa, which are driven by hatred and controlled by Iran\u201d.
\nThe incident highlighted a spat within the pan-African bloc over a unilateral 2021 decision by Mahamat to give Israel observer status, triggering protests by several member states.
\nIsrael obtained observer status after two decades of diplomatic efforts. It had previously held the role at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) but was long thwarted in its attempts to regain it after the OAU was disbanded in 2002 and replaced by the AU.
\nThe Israeli foreign ministry said at the time that the new status could enable Israel and the AU to forge stronger cooperation on various aspects, including the fight against the coronavirus and the prevention \u201cof the spread of extremist terrorism\u201d on the African continent.
\nThe South African government said the African Union\u2019s decision to award Israel the status was \u201ceven more shocking in a year in which the oppressed people of Palestine were hounded by destructive bombardments and continued illegal settlements of the land\u201d.<\/p>\n
Last year\u2019s AU summit suspended a debate on whether to withdraw the accreditation and established a committee of heads of state to address the issue.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
ADDIS ABABA The African Union has said that Israel\u2019s observer status at the bloc was suspended which is why it was not invited to attend the weekend summit. The news comes after Israeli ambassador Sharon Bar-li was removed from the African Union\u2019s annual summit in Ethiopia on Saturday as she attempted to attend using a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":314991,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-314944","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n