Link to Article: https://allafrica.com/stories/202112150162.html
Israel has been granted observer status to the African Union. This decision was made by Moussa Faki Mahamat the Chair of the African Union without the consent of member states and some of the members are outraged. South Africa is hoping that the decision will be reversed by the African Union during their Spring Summit happening in February of 2022. South Africa claims that “The unjust actions committed by Israel offend the letter and the spirit of the Charter of the African Union”. Many countries in the African Union support Palestine and not Israel so the decision for observer status is unpopular.
Many countries in the African Union do not have good relations with Israel. Chad in recent years has had better relations with Israel. These relations are due in part to Israel helping to provide weapons during the Chadian Civil War and still helping in providing weapons for Chad’s security. Also by having better relations with Israel Chad is able to have better relations with the United States and that may help them to gain power within the region. This led the Chair of the African Union who is a former Prime Minister of Chad to grant Israel observer status without the permission of other member states.
South Africa is most likely influenced to not allow Israel to gain power in the region because they are encouraged to do so by the Chinese government. China is the largest trading partner of South Africa so it is in South Africa’s national interest to continue to do things that will make China happy and continue trading with them. This will also limit the power of Israel in the region which will in turn limit the power of the United States. This is something that China would want as it would allow them to grow in power with less interference from the United States.