Israel on Saturday denounced the expulsion of one of its envoys to the African Union (AU) summit, accusing Iran of being behind this "
serious
" measure with the complicity of Algeria and South Africa. South, according to the Israeli Foreign Ministry.
By 2022, the AU had failed to close its discussions on Israel's controversial accreditation.
Algeria and South Africa in particular argued against.
The AU has not indicated whether the issue will be discussed at the summit this year.
But, according to a video posted online, security personnel escorted Sharon Bar-li, Israel's Foreign Ministry's deputy director general for Africa, out of the annual summit which opened in Addis Ababa on Saturday.
An AU official explained that a person had been “
asked to leave the premises
” because he was not invited to this meeting.
The AU had issued a one-time invitation to Israel's ambassador to the AU, Aleli Admasu, and that invitation could not be used by anyone else, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“
It is unfortunate that the person in question abused this favor
,” he said.
Read alsoCan Israel make a successful return to Africa?
For a spokesperson for Israeli diplomacy, however, this expulsion remains "
serious
" because Sharon Bar-li had "
valid accreditation as an observer
".
“
It is sad to see the African Union hostage to a small number of extremist states like Algeria and South Africa, driven by hatred and controlled by Iran,
” he said. at AFP.
Vincent Magwenya, spokesperson for South African President Cyril Ramaphosa, for his part affirmed on the sidelines of the Addis Ababa summit that Israel had to "
substantiate its accusations
".
In 2021, the chairman of the AU Commission, the Chadian Moussa Faki, had decided to accredit Israel and since then the organization has continued to postpone the possibility of a vote on this subject which, according to analysts , could have caused a split unprecedented in 20 years of existence.
Accredited non-African states can attend certain conferences, access non-confidential AU documents and present statements at meetings concerning them.
