A diplomatic source disclosed to Al Jazeera that the African Union has blocked an Israeli delegation from entering the organization’s headquarters. The delegation had requested meetings with African officials to present its perspective on the developments of the war in Gaza.
The source indicated that the Israeli delegation, composed of the Director-General of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs Yakov Blitchtein and the Director in the Africa Management Department Amit Bayas, arrived in Addis Ababa and attempted to participate in the opening session of the African Foreign Ministers’ Council meetings as observers. However, the African Union refused to grant them entry.
The delegation was seeking to engage with several African officials to mitigate the African stance towards Israel in light of the Gaza conflict and to persuade some countries to once again support Israel’s observer status in the Union after previous demands were rejected.
It is worth mentioning that an Israeli delegation had attempted to attend the 36th African Union Summit held in Addis Ababa in February of last year, but the Union rejected their attendance due to objections from several African countries, including South Africa and Algeria.
At that time, the Chairperson of the African Union Commission, Moussa Faki, announced the suspension of the decision to grant Israel observer status until this action is discussed through a special committee.
