Israel cuts ties with EU foreign policy chief over apartheid row
What's new: The dispute centers on a report that Kaja Kallas likened Israel's treatment of Palestinians to apartheid-era South Africa.
Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Saar cut off contact with European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas after a report said she compared Israel's treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to apartheid-era South Africa. Saar said he would end "all contact" with Kallas until she retracts the remarks attributed to her during a visit to Mexico last month. Kallas did not directly address the reported comparison, but urged continued dialogue and reiterated the EU's support for a two-state solution. The clash adds to already tense ties as the EU criticizes Israeli settlement expansion in the West Bank and its conduct in the Gaza war, even as the bloc remains divided over how hard to press Israel.