Israel says cutting ties with top EU diplomat over ‘apartheid’ comments

The UN rights office has previously found that Israel is violating international laws that prohibit apartheid.Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar says he is suspending contact with the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, after reports that she compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa’s former apartheid system.The diplomatic row erupted after European news outlet Euractiv reported last week that Kallas made the remarks during high-level talks with Mexican officials in May.Recommended Stories list of 4 itemslist 1 of 4What went wrong for Cristiano Ronaldo in his first World Cup 2026 match?list 2 of 4How does Trump’s MOU with Iran compare with Obama’s nuclear pact?list 3 of 4Continuity or change? What to know about Colombia’s run-off electionlist 4 of 4US progressive Lewis George on track to become DC mayor after Trump threatsend of listCiting unnamed diplomats and officials, the outlet said Kallas compared Israel’s policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to the racial segregation regime that ruled South Africa until the early 1990s.In a post on X on Thursday, Saar accused Kallas of displaying a longstanding bias against Israel.“Kaja Kallas has for some time now been acting obsessively and with blatant unfairness toward the State of Israel,” he wrote. Saar said Kallas had neither denied nor clarified the reported comments, leaving him with “no choice but to sever all contact” until she retracts what he described as a “blood libel” against Israel.Kallas responded publicly, stressing that the EU remained committed to maintaining relations with Israel, but she did not directly address the apartheid allegation.“Dear Gideon, as you know, the EU and Israel have a lot that binds us,” she wrote on X. “Dialogue is the foundation of diplomacy, especially when differences arise.”Kallas reiterated the EU’s support for a two-state solution and its opposition to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank, which Brussels considers illegal under international law.