Israel severs contact with EU High Rep. Kallas over apartheid remarks
Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced he is cutting off all contact with EU foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas until she retracts her comparison of Israel to apartheid-era South Africa
"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," Israeli FM Gideon Sa’ar wrote on X. "For some time now been acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the State of Israel," he stated.
Sa’ar’s post came in response to a statement made by EU High Rep. for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas, comparing Israel to the former apartheid regime in South Africa.
https://x.com/i/web/status/2067522787334406632
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Kallas made the apartheid comparison during closed-door meetings with Mexican government representatives while in Mexico City last month as part of an EU delegation. This is according to Euractiv, which cited officials and diplomats present at the meeting. Those officials said Kallas described being moved by a visit to South Africa's apartheid museum in Johannesburg the previous year.
The EU high rep. has acknowledged Israel’s right to self-defense but has said the response should be proportionate and criticized Israeli settlements in the West Bank.
The same apartheid accusation underpins South Africa's case against Israel at the International Court of Justice, where the country alleges Israel has violated the Genocide Convention in Gaza. The comparison has also drawn criticism within EU institutions, with several member states, including Germany and France, rejecting such characterizations of Israeli policy.
Kallas's office has not confirmed nor denied the report.