Addis Ababa /PNN/ Diplomats say the African Union (AU) has suspended a debate on whether to withdraw Israel’s accreditation, despite growing calls on the bloc to overturn last year’s decision to grant the “apartheid regime” an observer status. “The Israel question has been suspended for now and instead there will be a committee set up to study the issue,” AFP quoted a diplomat as saying on Sunday, on the closing day of the AU’s annual summit in Addis Ababa. The crisis began last July, when Moussa Faki Mahamat, chair of the African Union Commission, accepted Israel’s observer status in the bloc, triggering simmering tensions within the body. According to AFP, diplomats said that the six-member committee will include South Africa and Algeria, who opposed Israel’s accreditation, as well as Rwanda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo, who supported it. Cameroon also asked to be on the committee, while South Africa requested the inclusion of Nigeria as well, the diplomats said. As the summit opened on Saturday, Palestinian Prime Minister Mohammed Shtayyeh said Israel “should never be awarded for its violation and for the apartheid regime it does impose on the Palestinian people.” “Your excellencies, I’m sorry to report to you that the situation of the Palestinian people has only grown more precarious. The decision to grant Israel an observer status is a reward that Tel Aviv does not deserve, and we call for this decision to be withdrawn,” he said. Back in July, Israel’s accreditation drew a sharp rebuke from powerful members of the AU, including South Africa and Algeria, which argued that it contradicted AU statements supporting the occupied Palestinian territories. At the time, the regime in Tel Aviv hailed the decision, with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid saying, “This is a day of celebration for Israel-Africa relations.” South Africa and Algeria are leading efforts to cancel the decision at the AU. Algerian Foreign Minister Ramtane Lamamra condemned the decision as a “huge mistake,” saying if consultations had taken place among the AU members in advance, the decision would have certainly not been taken in the first place. Arab League welcomes AU decision Secretary General of the Arab League Ahmed Aboul Gheit also backed the AU’s decision. An official source in the General Secretariat lauded the decision as a corrective step in line with the historical positions of the African Union and in support of the Palestinian cause. The Arab Parliament said the decision corrects the previous position of Moussa Faki Mahamat, chairman of the AU Commission, who accepted Israel’s observer status in the bloc. “Israel will never be able to erode Africa’s support for the Palestinian cause and the legal rights of Palestinians,” the legislature pointed out.