ADDIS ABABA, Feb 18 (Portal) – A senior Israeli diplomat was removed from the annual African Union summit in Ethiopia on Saturday as a dispute over Israel’s accreditation to the bloc escalated.
Images released online showed AU security personnel confronting the diplomat during the summit’s opening ceremony before she exited the auditorium.
“Israel looks sharply at the incident in which the Deputy Director for Africa, Ambassador Sharon Bar-Li, was removed from the African Union Hall despite her status as an accredited observer with access badges,” the State Department said.
Ebba Kalondo, spokeswoman for the African Union commission chair, said the diplomat was removed because she was not the properly accredited Israeli ambassador to Ethiopia, the expected official.
But Israel blamed South Africa and Algeria, two key nations in the bloc of 55 countries, for the incident, saying they are holding the AU hostage and are driven by “hate”.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said the South African embassy’s chargé d’affaires will be summoned for a reprimand.
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“The attempt to revoke Israel’s observer status has no basis in the organization’s laws,” the ministry said.
South Africa dismissed the claim, saying Israel’s request for observer status with the AU had not been decided by the bloc.
“Until the AU makes a decision on whether to grant observer status to Israel, you cannot let the country sit and observe,” Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at South Africa’s international relations department, told Portal.
“So it’s not about South Africa or Algeria, it’s about the principle.”
South Africa’s ruling party has always been a strong supporter of the Palestinian cause.
The Algerian delegation at the summit was not immediately available for comment.
Reporting by Dawit Endeshaw in Addis Ababa, Ari Rabinovitch in Jerusalem and Nelson Banya in Harare; writing by Duncan Miriri; Edited by Alex Richardson
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