SADC leaders reject decision to grant ‘Israel’ AU observer status

Lilongwe (QNN)- Leaders of states forming the Southern African Development Community (SADC) rejected the African Union’s decision to grant the occupation state of Israel observer status on Wednesday.

The leaders of the SADC countries met in Malawi’s capital Lilongwe for the Ordinary Summit of SADC Heads of State and Government.

The summit “expressed concern and objected to the unilateral decision taken by the African Union Commission to grant the State of Israel Observer Status to the African Union”.

South Africa had played a “central role” in lobbying SADC’s 16 member states to issue a collective statement, said Clayson Monyela, spokesperson for the Department of International Relations and Cooperation, according to News24.

“It is significant when you have a regional body of the African Union speaking in one voice on such a matter. It carries weight,” said Monyela.

AU member states have previously rejected Israel’s applications, but the latest decision had bypassed the collective debate, explained Monyela. This is why SADC was critical of what it called a unilateral decision by the African Union Commissioner.

The occupation state had announced last July the formal establishment of its observer status with the African Union.