Israel Cuts Contact with the EU Foreign Policy Chief Over an Apartheid Comparison

Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar announced that Israel is cutting off contact with Kaja Kallas, the European Union official responsible for foreign policy, after a report that she compared Israeli policy in the occupied territories to the apartheid system in South Africa. Saar made the break against a backdrop of intensifying disputes between Israel and the bloc over settlements.

Israeli reporting noted that Kallas had until now been regarded as a relatively neutral figure, which made the break more significant. Saar accused her of acting with obsessive and unfair hostility toward Israel and said he would not restore contact until she withdrew the comparison.

The dispute deepens a widening divide between Israel and Europe at a moment when the United States and Iran are negotiating a deal that Israel has watched warily. The European Union is one of Israel's largest trading partners, which gives the diplomatic break commercial significance beyond the immediate words.