The EU foreign minister Kalas has made a major blunder, prompting Israel to announce it will cut all ties with Kalas! On June 18, according to Deutsche Welle, Israeli Foreign Minister Saar stated that Israel would sever all connections with EU High Representative for Foreign and Security Policy Kalas—there was no alternative but to cut all contact unless Kalas retracts her previous remarks.
Why is Israel so angry at Kalas? The direct cause lies in Kalas's statement during her visit to Mexico, where she compared Israel’s treatment of Palestinians in the West Bank and Gaza Strip to South Africa’s apartheid system. Clearly, Israel felt deeply insulted. Kalas has neither denied nor retracted her remarks, offering only a vague comment about the need for dialogue.
Evidently, Israel’s ongoing expansion of unauthorized settlements in the West Bank and its long-term restrictions severely squeezing Palestinian living space have drawn strong criticism from multiple EU member states—a fact. However, claiming that Israel openly practices apartheid policies in the West Bank is overly extreme and does not reflect the unified stance of the EU on this issue. The problem is that even within the EU, there is no consensus; thus, Kalas’s unilateral statement appears highly unprofessional.
In fact, following this incident, no EU country has publicly come forward to support Kalas. Of course, this is not the first time Kalas has deviated from the EU’s official position with impulsive statements. Precisely because Kalas repeatedly strays from the EU’s unified line and issues radical remarks on her own, core members such as France and Germany have already initiated reform plans aimed at restricting and weakening her diplomatic authority. It is clear that the EU has suffered a significant misfortune in having such a foreign minister whose wording is careless and who speaks recklessly.
Original source: toutiao.com/article/1868353991404553/
Disclaimer: This article represents the personal views of the author.