Israel's foreign minister suspends talks with EU's top diplomat over alleged apartheid comment

Israel’s foreign minister announced on Thursday that he will no longer engage with the European Union’s high representative for foreign affairs and security policy, Kaja Kallas, over comments attributed to her that compared Israel to the former apartheid regime in South Africa. The minister said the remarks were reported during Kallas’s visit to Mexico and that she has not publicly responded or clarified the statements.

"Kaja Kallas, the high representative of the European Union for foreign affairs and security policy, has for some time been acting obsessively and with disgraceful unfairness against the State of Israel," the minister said. "It was recently publicly reported that during her visit to Mexico, she compared Israel to the racist apartheid regime that existed in South Africa. I thank the many European elected officials who rejected and condemned these grave remarks."

The minister added that, because Kallas has not denied or addressed the report, he has “no choice but to cut off all contact … until she retracts the blood libel she hurled at the only Jewish state, which is also the only democracy in the Middle East.” The decision follows previous diplomatic tensions, including Israel’s boycott of Kallas’s predecessor, Josep Borrell, over his statements on the conflict.

Israel and the EU have experienced a series of strained interactions concerning the war and Israel’s policies, with both sides exchanging criticisms in recent months.