On June 22, Israel achieved a diplomatic goal it had been working toward for nearly two decades: it became an “observer” state at the African Union (AU). “This is a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations,” Israel’s new minister of foreign affairs, Yair Lapid, stated, adding that the achievement “corrects the anomaly that has existed for almost two decades.” Lapid explained that Israel’s observer status will enable greater cooperation, “among other things, in the fight against Corona and the prevention of the spread of extremist terrorism throughout the continent.”

The latter is a somewhat disingenuous claim, given that Israel’s international cooperation strategy is virtually nonexistent, and that its global “counterterrorism” agenda is largely focused on selling technologies of oppression to autocrats. In reality, the key objective behind Israel’s longstanding effort to gain access to the AU has been undermining Palestinian efforts to influence the continental stance on the situation in Israel/Palestine and, by implication, the stance of independent African states on the matter.

Palestine has long had an observer status in the AU. President Mahmoud Abbas is regularly given the opportunity to address the organization’s summits. But Israeli officials believe that if African states are expected to follow the position set by the AU when casting their votes in other international fora, then Israel’s ability to influence decisions at the AU could have significant political implications.