AU Suspends Its Decision on Granting Israel Observer Status

On Sunday, the African Union (AU) summit suspended Israel's observer status as heads of state from the 55-member body met for a two-day summit.

This came just a day after Palestine argued with the AU to retract its decision to grant Israel observer status in the pan-African organization, Anadolu Agency reported.

In his address at the AU summit in Addis Ababa on Saturday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohamed Shtayyeh said: "The decision to grant Israel an observer status is a reward that Israel does not deserve, and we call for this decision to be withdrawn."

He affirmed that Israel does not deserve observer status "for its racist treatment of the Palestinians."

Last year, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs revealed that its ambassador to Ethiopia, Admasu Al-Ali, had submitted his credentials as an observer member to the AU, which was accepted unilaterally by Moussa Faki Mahamat, the Chairperson of the AU Commission.