The European Union ambassador to Israel, Michael Mann, reiterated this Friday that, in accordance with the official EU position, the Israeli executive does not apply a policy of ethnic or racial segregation and, therefore, is not considered an "Apartheid state"; a diplomatic controversy that this week has splashed the head of European diplomacy, Kaja Kallas.
The High Representative of the European Union for Foreign Policy avoided confirming on Thursday whether, during a closed-door meeting, she had equated Israel with the South African apartheid regime, a point that led the Israeli Foreign Minister, Gideon Saar, to announce the suspension of his contacts with Kallas.
In statements to the "Jerusalem Post", Mann emphasizes that the controversy originates from anonymous third-party testimonies and that Kallas has not directly addressed this issue in public.
"I am not going to comment on an unofficial quote from an anonymous official who claimed that this was said. I simply cannot comment on it," Mann explained before making it "absolutely clear" that "it is not official EU policy that Israel is an apartheid state."
Despite avoiding commenting on the substance of the matter, Kallas did speak out on social media to emphasize that the official line of the European Union remains the defense of the two-state solution and the rejection of Israeli settlements, considered illegal under International Law.
"I would be lying if I said that the relationship is not going through a more difficult period right now," Mann acknowledged. "From the perspective of the Israeli media, it may seem that we are treating Israel with particular injustice, but we base our policies on how we assess the situation on the ground," he added.
The diplomat took advantage of the interview to condemn episodes of violence perpetrated by Israeli settlers in the West Bank. "We are very concerned," Mann indicated. "There have been multiple cases of violent extremists entering Palestinian communities, setting fire to cars and property, uprooting trees, and stealing livestock."
The ambassador also cautiously referred to internal discussions in the EU on the option of sanctioning the ultra-nationalist Israeli ministers of Finance and National Security, Bezalel Smotrich and Itamar Ben Gvir, for inciting violence against Palestinians, as well as on the possibility of imposing restrictions on Israeli products from the settlements.
"At this moment, there is no agreement, but if we were to impose sanctions on individuals, it would be for actions that we believe violate basic human rights and democratic principles," he pointed out. Regarding goods produced in the settlements, he recalled that "some member states have recently submitted proposals to impose tariffs on such products or ban them altogether, but this is also being debated in Brussels."
To conclude, Mann urged the Israeli authorities to lower the tone of public discourse and abandon the "rather heated rhetoric." "I understand that we are in an election period, but I think it would be helpful if the rhetoric were moderated to allow for a calmer debate," he stressed.