Algeria pans decision to grant Israel observer status in African Union

Last week the Israeli Foreign Ministry announced that Israel will once again hold observer status in the African intergovernmental body.

Israel had observer status in the Organization of African Unity, which was dissolved in 2002 and replaced by the current African Union.

On Sunday, Algeria denounced the African Union's decision to grant Israel observer status to the African continental organization.

Without mentioning Israel specifically, the Algerian Foreign Ministry released a statement: “Taken without the benefit of broad prior consultations with all member states, this decision has neither the vocation nor the capacity to legitimize the practices and behaviors of the said new observer which are totally incompatible with the values, principles, and objectives enshrined in the ‘Constitutive Act of the African Union.’”

“The recent decision of the President of the Commission of the African Union (AU) to welcome a new observer who falls under its administrative prerogatives is not likely to alter the constant and active support of the continental organization to the just Palestinian cause,” the press release stated.

Israel maintains diplomatic relations with 46 of the 55 nations in the African Union.