Mixed reactions in SA after Israeli diplomat booted out of AU summit

• There have been mixed reactions to the ousting of an Israeli diplomat from the African Union summit in Addis Ababa.
• The Department of International Relations and Cooperation says SA has no authority to "kick any delegation out of an AU meeting", while the SA Jewish Board of Deputies has strongly condemned the incident.
• Human rights organisation Africa4Palestine has joined the ANC and other organisations in welcoming the ousting of Israeli diplomat Sharon Bar-li.

There have been mixed reactions to the ousting of an Israeli diplomat from the African Union (AU) summit in Addis Ababa, with the Department of International Relations and Cooperation (Dirco) insisting that South Africa has no authority to "kick any delegation out of an AU meeting".

Meanwhile, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies has strongly condemned the incident.

Images posted on social media showed AU security personnel confronting senior Israeli diplomat Sharon Bar-li during the summit's opening on Saturday before she left the auditorium.

In a statement, the South African Jewish Board of Deputies' spokesperson, Charisse Zeifert, said the board "deplores the ejection of Israel's duly invited representative from the recent African Union (AU) summit".

She said "the AU represents all those who live on the continent, including those of the Jewish faith".

Zeifert said:

The board believed the ousting of Israeli representatives was "a lost opportunity for conflict resolution".

Zeifert said the board was "further extremely [disappointed] that rather than condemning this incident, the ANC chose instead to crow over the supposed 'victory' that it represented".

"In reality, this was a 'victory' only for pressure groups seeking to subvert the purpose of the AU by using it as an anti-Israel propaganda platform."

READ | ANC 'encouraged' after Israeli diplomat ousted from AU meeting

The Jewish board's statement came after the ANC released a statement shortly after the incident, saying it was "encouraged" by the ousting of the Israeli representative. The governing party said the ousting happened against attempts to undermine the current sitting AU summit from considering a report that was supposed to guide discussions on whether Israel must be granted an observer status.

The ANC statement read:

"Only a two-state solution, based on agreed international parameters, can bring an end to the hardships suffered by Palestinians at the hands of Israeli forces. The people of Palestine that, includes women and children, are subjected to the most horrendous deeds day in and day out," It added.

Human rights organisation Africa4Palestine's director Muhammed Desai told News24 his organisation joined the ANC and other organisations who supported the ousting of Israel from the summit.

"We agree with the ANC that Israel is indeed an apartheid state and should be treated as one. The AU is no space for apartheid states to have recognition. By the African Union not accepting Israel, it will remain true to its anti-colonial commitments," he said.

Senior research fellow and director at Africa-Asia Dialogues Thembisa Fakude laid the blame for the incident on AU Commission Chairperson Moussa Faki Mahamat. He alleged that Mahamat tried to include Israel's ambassador "through the back door, and the plan backfired".

Fakude said the discussion on Israel's observer status was suspended and, therefore, Israel was not supposed to be at the summit.

"The chairperson of the AU, Faki Mahamat, pretends he does not know how it happened. He is behind the campaign of granting Israel an observer status. Last month, the president of Chad (Mahamat Idriss Déby) visited Israel and opened an embassy in Israel. Faki Mahamat is from Chad," said Fakude.

On Sunday, the AU said Israel's observer status at the bloc had been suspended pending a discussion on its continued role as observer and that Israel had not been invited to the weekend summit.

Israeli foreign ministry spokesperson Lior Hayat publicly criticised Algeria and South Africa for the incident, and there were reports that Israel could summon representatives from both countries for a reprimand.

But head of diplomacy at Dirco Clayson Monyela told News24 South Africa had nothing to do with what happened.

"That's an African Union summit convened by the AU. Any incident that took place can best be explained or responded to by the AU. South Africa or any other country doesn't have the authority to kick any delegation out of an AU meeting. Any decision to escort anyone out of an AU meeting would be the decision of the collective not a single country," said Monyela.