Israel cuts 'all contact' with EU foreign policy chief over ‘apartheid’ remarks

Hind Al Soulia - Riyadh - JERUSALEM — Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar said on Thursday he was severing "all contact" with European ​Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas over remarks attributed to her comparing Israel to apartheid-era South Africa.

In a post on social media, Saar said Kallas had "compared Israel to the racist apartheid regime" ​during a visit to Mexico and that as a result ​he was severing contact until she retracted the comments.

“I am grateful to the many European elected representatives who condemned this grave statement,” Saar posted on X on Thursday.

“However, to date, no denial, clarification or response has been issued by her regarding this severe statement. Therefore, as the Foreign Minister of the State of Israel, I have no choice but to sever all contact with Ms. Kallas until she retracts the blood libel she directed at the world’s only Jewish state, which is also the only democracy in the Middle East.”

Saar added that Kallas has for some time been acting “obsessively and with blatant unfairness” toward Israel.

In subsequent posts on X, Saar ​shared posts from other accounts that mentioned or referenced a June 12 ​report by European news website Euractiv that cited unnamed officials and diplomats as saying that during her visit to Mexico last month, Kallas had compared Israel's treatment of ​Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to that of the ​policies of South Africa under apartheid, a system of legally enforced racial segregation.

Apparently rejecting Saar’s accusation, Kallas reiterated the EU’s stance that the two-state solution is “the only viable path” to “bring peace to the Middle East,” and that the bloc has therefore “condemned the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank that make it increasingly difficult to get to that goal.”

In her post on X, Kallas said the EU is “committed to a constructive relationship” with Israel, but she did not address the reported apartheid remarks.

The European ‌Union ⁠has criticised Israel's expansion of Jewish settlements in the West Bank, widely viewed as illegal under international law and an obstacle to Israel-Palestinian peace and the establishment of a Palestinian state.

In May, the EU sanctioned three ​individuals and four ​entities that it ⁠said were responsible for "serious and systematic human rights abuses against Palestinians in the West Bank". In response, Saar ​at the time said Israel firmly rejected the ​decision.

The EU ⁠has also criticised Israel's conduct in the war in Gaza while reaffirming its right to defend itself. But the bloc's 27 member states are ⁠divided, with ​some highly critical of Israel and others ​maintaining close ties.