Israel accuses Algeria and South Africa of expelling its ambassador from African summit

On Feb 19, 2023

Israel on Saturday condemned the “severe” expulsion of a senior diplomat from the African Union summit, accusing arch-foe Iran of orchestrating the move with help from Algeria and South Africa.

A senior Israeli diplomat has been expelled from the annual African Union summit in Ethiopia, as the dispute over Israel’s accreditation to the organisation escalates.

Images posted online show AU security personnel confronting the diplomat during the opening session of the summit, before she left the room.

The delegation of the sioniste entity called « #Israel » led by the Deputy DG for African Affairs Sharon Bar-li, Kicked out from the #AUSummit2023 .
How did this delegation have access to the AU premises ? Who provided badges for them ? Well done #Algeria 🇩🇿& #SouthAfrica 🇿🇦 🫡 pic.twitter.com/PeuvriZ2GF

— African Andalous (@AfricanAndalou1) February 18, 2023

“Israel is seriously considering expelling Deputy Director of African Affairs Ambassador Sharon Bar-li from the AU hall, despite her status as an accredited observer (and receipt of entry badges),” the Israeli foreign ministry said.

Ebba Kalondo, spokesperson for the chairperson of the African Union Commission, said the diplomat was removed from the room because she was not the Israeli ambassador accredited to Ethiopia, the official who was to attend the meeting.

But Israel blamed the incident on South Africa and Algeria, the two largest countries in the 55-nation bloc, saying they were holding the African Union hostage and were motivated by “hatred”.

The Israeli foreign ministry said the foreign affairs official at the South African embassy would be summoned to reprimand him.

“The attempt to revoke Israel’s observer status has no basis in the organisation’s laws,” the ministry said.

South Africa rejected this claim, saying the federation had not yet taken a decision on Israel’s application for observer status with it.

“Until the African Union makes a decision on whether or not to grant observer status to Israel, a state cannot have observer status and conduct monitoring activities,” Clayson Monyela, head of public diplomacy at the South African State Department for International Relations, told reporters.

“So it’s not about South Africa or Algeria, it’s a matter of principle,” he added.