Kallas responds to Sa’ar: ‘The EU and Israel have a lot that binds us’

"Dear Gideon, as you know, the EU and Israel have a lot that binds us. I value our dialogue and engagement, and I’m open to continue in that spirit, respectfully and constructively,’’ stressed EU foreign affairs chief Kaja Kallas in response to the announcement made Thursday (18 June) by Israeli Foreign Minisyter Gideon Sa’ar that he would be cutting contacts with the office of EU High Representative for Foreign Affairs and Security Policy Kaja Kallas “until she retracts the blood libel she directed at the world’s only Jewish state”. The EU’s foreign affairs chief responded to Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar who announced that he is cutting  all contacts with her until she retracts her reported ‘apartheid’ remarks on Israel. While she didn’t address the reported remarks, Kallas  said that the EU wants to maintain a ”constructive dialogue” with Israel, writes Yossi Lempkowicz.

Sa’ar maintains that ”until this matter is cleared up, my decision will remain unchanged”.

Sa’ar was referring to Kallas’ reported comments made last month during a closed-doors meeting with governmental officials in Mexico-city in which, accordig to a report by Euractiv EU affairs news website,  she compared Israel’s treatment of the Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza to the period of the apartheid regime in South Africa.

In her response in a post on X, while she didn’ address the reported remarks, Kallas said that "dialogue is the foundation of diplomacy, especially when differences arise. The EU is always committed to a constructive relationship with Israel".

"To bring peace to the Middle East, the Two-State Solution remains the only viable path. The EU has condemned the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank that make it increasingly difficult to get to that goal. That is the EU position,’’ she added.

Asked about the matter during the daily briefing of the European Commissionj, EU foreign affairs spokesperson Anouar El Anouni didn’t say whether Kallas stand by her reported remarks or not.

Instead he said: "The High Representative has been consistently clear about the importance of dialogue and engagement with Israel. She has maintained frequent diplomatic engagement with Foreign Minister Sa’ar, with whom she regularly discussed all issues of common interest."

‘’The High Representative and the EU remain committed to a constructive relationship with Israel. And as the High Representative said herself, the EU and Israel have a lot, a lot that binds us. And let’s also recall that Israel is a vibrant democracy.’’

"Dialogue is the foundation of diplomacy, especially when differences arise,’’ the EU spokesperson said.

Later, the Israeli Foreign Minister noted that  Kallas refrained from denying or condemning what has been attributed to her and published publicly.

Sa’ar wrote: "That speaks for itself. To the best of my knowledge, the statements attributed to you regarding “apartheid” do not reflect the position of the European Union. The matter is simple: if you did indeed make these vile and defamatory statements, stand behind them. If you did not make them, deny it. Until this matter is cleared up, my decision will remain unchanged.”

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