Saar Cuts Ties with Kallas Over Apartheid Comments

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar announced Thursday that he is cutting all contact with Kaja Kallas, the European Union’s foreign policy chief, after she reportedly compared Israel to South Africa under apartheid. The dispute stems from a May report where Kallas allegedly made these comments during a visit to Mexico.

Sa’ar said on social media that 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. He accused her of acting obsessively and unfairly toward Israel.

Kallas responded publicly, stressing that the EU remained committed to maintaining relations with Israel but did not directly address the apartheid allegation. She emphasized the importance of dialogue and reiterated the EU's support for a two-state solution and its opposition to illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank.

The diplomatic row comes amid growing international scrutiny of Israel’s treatment of Palestinians, particularly in light of continued strikes in Gaza and frequent attacks on villages in the occupied West Bank. The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights concluded in January that Israel was violating international law by permitting racial segregation and apartheid.

According to Al Jazeera, the diplomatic row follows reports by European news outlet Euractiv that Kallas made the remarks during high-level talks with Mexican officials in May. Citing unnamed officials, the outlet reported that the EU diplomat privately likened Israel’s policies in Gaza and the occupied West Bank to the racial segregation regime that ruled South Africa until the mid-1990s.

Al Jazeera also reports that analysts say the diplomatic fallout from Kallas’s remarks will remain symbolic, reflecting a deeper structural problem within the EU's foreign policy apparatus. The European External Action Service (EEAS), headed by Kallas, has increasingly been sidelined, caught between member states that retain sovereign control over foreign policy and a European Commission that has progressively expanded into geopolitical territory.

Ireland’s prime minister Micheal Martin criticized Saar’s decision to sever ties with Kallas as 'unacceptable'. Ireland has been among the most active proponents of EU-level measures against Israel, including recent proposals to sanction far-right Israeli government ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. However, the EU has so far been unable to reach unanimous agreement on these sanctions.

German Chancellor Friedrich Merz distanced himself from Kallas’s remarks, reaffirming Berlin’s position as a staunch Israeli ally. Meanwhile, France and Italy have recently stepped out of line with other EU nations by recognizing Palestinian statehood and examining the conduct of Ben-Gvir regarding the treatment of their nationals during an aid flotilla interception.