Israeli diplomat removed from African Union summit

An Israeli observer delegation was removed on Saturday from the African Union summit being held in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa.

A video shared online showed Sharon Bar-Li, the deputy director of the African Division at the Israeli foreign ministry, being escorted out at the opening ceremony of the two-day convention.

An AU official told AFP the individual who was “asked to leave” was not invited to attend the meeting, with a non-transferable invitation only issued to Aleli Admasu, Israel’s ambassador to the African Union.

Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing unnamed diplomatic officials, said Bar-Li had the proper authorisation to attend the summit and that discussions are being held to allow her to return.