African Union to discuss revoking Israel's Observer Status

African leaders will discuss revoking Israel’s Observer Status at the African Union (AU) during the bloc’s upcoming summit on 5 February.

An Algerian diplomatic source said his country’s efforts over the past months have been “successful” to include the issue of expelling Israel from the African Union, on the agenda of the 35th African Summit and the Conference of African Presidents and Heads of Government being held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

“Algeria is still coordinating positions with African and Arab countries that are members of the union, to withdraw the observer status, which has been granted to Israel by a single administrative decision taken by an African Union official,” the source said.

Last August, the embassies of seven Arab countries that are members of the African Union, namely Algeria, Egypt, Comoros, Tunisia, Djibouti, Mauritania and Libya, submitted a memorandum to the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, objecting to his decision to accept Israel as an observer at the union.

The members demanded the decision be put for debate, since the Israeli request was not considered according to the AU’s system, and no discussion or consultation had been raised between the bloc’s members, which “represents an unacceptable procedural and political abuse by the Chairperson of his discretionary authority”.

READ: Has the AU declared war on member states with Israel’s ‘observer status’?