The French newspaper “Le Monde” reported that the African Union has withdrawn Israel’s observer status, which it had enjoyed within the organization. As a result, Tel Aviv has been definitively banned from the institution after a decade of diplomatic efforts and two years of holding that status.
The newspaper explained that the informal expulsion of the Israeli delegation from the General Assembly of the African Union at the start of the presidents’ discussions in February of last year has left its mark on the relationship between Tel Aviv and the continent. This was largely due to the efforts of South Africa and Algeria, which were behind the sidelining of the Israeli representatives, although this did not resolve the issue of Israel’s status.
A year after this diplomatic incident, the war on the Gaza Strip put an end to the debate, with the “file regarding Israel’s accreditation remaining closed,” according to a senior official in the African Union. The organization suspended Tel Aviv’s observer status, and Eba Kalondo, the spokesperson for the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, stated that “Israel is not invited to attend the summit.”
In contrast, the African Union rolled out the red carpet for Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammad Shtayyeh, who received lengthy applause from the heads of states of a continent largely committed to the Palestinian cause. He told several African leaders, “The Palestinians are defending their homeland just as you in Africa defended your lands against colonialism.”
The African Union condemned the Israeli attack, with Moussa Faki Mahamat, Chairperson of the African Union Commission, calling it the “most blatant” violation of international humanitarian law and accusing Israel of wanting to “exterminate” the inhabitants of Gaza. Following this, the President of the Comoros, Ghazali Othmani, thanked South Africa for filing a complaint with the International Court of Justice to denounce “the genocide being committed by Israel before our eyes.”
The judges of the International Court of Justice ruled in favor of Pretoria, which had filed a complaint at the end of December 2023 accusing Israel of committing genocide against the Palestinians in Gaza. Lizel Le Fodran, a researcher at the International Crisis Group, commented that “this is one of the greatest achievements in African diplomacy.”
