Israel staves off attack on AU observer status

Through a widespread diplomatic initiative, Israel staved off a concerted attempt by the South African and Algerian governments last weekend to remove its observer status permanently from the African Union (AU).

Israel’s foreign affairs ministry said that South Africa and Algeria, whose leaders were at the 37th annual summit of AU heads of state in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, at the weekend, planned to convince the union’s 55 member states to cut off relations with Israel and introduce a proposal that would declare Israel guilty of genocide for its war against Hamas in Gaza.

They failed to achieve this.

“There was an event which had the potential to cause serious damage, but we were able to successfully repel the South African and Algerian attempts,” said Sharon Bar-Li, the deputy director general of Israel’s ministry of foreign affairs’ Africa division.

The diplomatic effort to foil the attack on Israel was led by Foreign Minister Israel Katz and included President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Hayat. “They all sent appeals and spoke to African leaders,” Hayat told the SA Jewish Report. In response, a coalition of African states was formed to oppose the move.

The Israeli embassies in Africa also got involved, each in their own country, and in some cases, senior foreign affairs ministry officials were sent to states in which Israel doesn’t have a permanent diplomatic presence, Hayat confirmed.

A vote reportedly enabled Israel to retain its observer state, with a coalition of African states forming to oppose the initiative from South Africa and Algeria.

Nevertheless, some African leaders last weekend condemned Israel for its “flagrant offensive” against Hamas in Gaza, and called for an immediate end to the hostilities.

Said Benji Shulman, the director of public policy at the South African Zionist Federation, “The recent defeat of the South African and Algerian delegations’ attempt to expel Israel from the African Union is a victory for diplomacy.

“South Africa is acting as a proxy for Iran and attempting to deprive Africa of the numerous technological means in which Israel contributes positively to global innovation and development. Such actions show how out of touch South Africa is with the trajectory of the rest of the continent.”

South Africa led the campaign. It has been opposed to the decision by the AU commission chairperson to grant Israel observer status from the get-go. It has been a fight that South Africa hasn’t been willing to give up, analysts say.

Israel was granted observer status in 2021 after 20 years of diplomatic effort, but at last year’s summit, a debate on the issue was suspended in a bid to avoid a vote that would create an unprecedented rift in the union. The AU chairperson created a six-country committee to examine the issue.

During last year’s summit, an Israeli delegate was unceremoniously removed from the plenary hall amid a row over the country’s observer status at the continental body.

Israel had previously held observer status at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), but was thwarted in its attempts to regain it after the OAU was disbanded in 2002 and replaced by the AU.

Analysts say that if the AU wants to have influence in the Middle East, building a deeper relationship with Israel is important.

The debate about Israel remaining an observer at the AU dates to 2021, after Moussa Faki Mahamat, then chairperson of the AU, accepted unilaterally Israel’s accreditation to the bloc, triggering protests by several member states. Following criticism by some countries, notably South Africa, opposing Israel’s observer status, a committee was appointed to examine the issue.

Mahamat defended his 2021 decision to grant Israel observer status. He also criticised those who campaigned against it, implying that they had double standards.

As many as 44 member countries of the AU recognise Israel and have established diplomatic and trade relations with the Jewish state. Many member states asked for it to have this accreditation.

Interestingly Mahamat, the chair of the AU Commission, said at the weekend that Israel’s offensive was the “most flagrant” violation of international humanitarian law, and accused Israel of having “exterminated” Gaza’s inhabitants.

The two-day summit began on Saturday, 17 February, under the theme: “Educate an African fit for the 21st century: building resilient education systems for increased access to inclusive, lifelong, quality, and relevant learning in Africa”.