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The alleged comments have sparked concern among some European diplomats, who argue that such comparisons go beyond official European Union policy.
By United with Israel Staff
European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas is facing criticism after reportedly comparing Israel’s treatment of Palestinians to South Africa’s apartheid regime during private meetings with Mexican officials last month.
According to a report by Euractiv, Kallas made the remarks during closed-door discussions in Mexico City while attending a high-level EU delegation visit between May 20 and May 22.
Diplomatic sources and officials familiar with the meetings told the outlet that Kallas drew parallels between Israel’s policies in Gaza and Judea and Samaria and South Africa’s former system of racial segregation, known as apartheid.
The report said Kallas also spoke about being deeply moved by a recent visit to South Africa and its Apartheid Museum, where she reflected on the country’s history of racial discrimination and segregation.
The alleged comments have sparked concern among some European diplomats, who argue that such comparisons go beyond official European Union policy and risk undermining the bloc’s credibility as a diplomatic actor.
One European diplomat quoted by Euractiv said that while the EU remains critical of certain Israeli policies and supports a two-state solution, equating Israel with apartheid-era South Africa is not an accepted position within the union.
“That comparison is not accepted and is not EU policy,” the diplomat said. “It is a major problem when she makes statements like this while officially representing the European Union on the global stage.”
Kallas, a former Estonian prime minister, has emerged as one of the most influential voices in European foreign policy since taking over the EU’s diplomatic service. Her reported remarks are likely to fuel further debate over the bloc’s increasingly strained relationship with Israel amid the ongoing war.
The comparison is particularly controversial because apartheid South Africa operated a formal system of state-enforced racial segregation that denied basic political and civil rights to the country’s Black majority until its collapse in the early 1990s.
Neither Kallas nor her office responded to Euractiv’s requests for comment regarding the reported remarks.
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