When the African Union announced it will grant Israel observer status July 22, the news caught many Israelis by surprise, though diplomats in the Africa division of the Foreign Ministry having been hard at work toward the goal for the last eight months.

Aliza Bin Noun, a former ambassador to Hungary and France who now heads the Africa division, expressed satisfaction. “I am very pleased that Israel is back to the African continent by means of becoming an observer state to the African Union. We are hoping to establish cooperation in a variety of fields such as economic development, fighting global terrorism, battling the coronavirus pandemic, health systems, smart agriculture and much more. This goes to show that Israel has a past in Africa, has a present and also has a great future ahead of it in the continent,” she told Al-Monitor.

Israel enjoyed observer status in the Organization of African Unity until 2002, when the organization dissolved itself, leading to the emergence of the African Union. Pressured by former Libyan dictator Moammar al-Gadhafi, the newly established organization canceled Israel's observer status. Since then, Israel has tried to regain it, with diplomatic efforts and two formal requests in 2014 and in 2018. Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman both championed the efforts.

During these years, there was strong opposition to Israel within the African Union, mostly by countries supporting the Palestinian cause such as South Africa, Libya and Egypt. Palestine gained observer status in 2013, and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas was invited as guest speaker to the organization’s 2019 summit. When serving as African Union Commission chair from 2012 to 2017, South African politician Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma fiercely objected to Israel's rapprochement efforts with the organization.