According to an AFP journalist on site in Jerusalem, Israeli police officers entered the grounds of the Eléona national domain, owned by France since the 19th century located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967. This attack on the integrity of an area placed under the responsibility of France is likely to weaken the links that I had come to cultivate with Israel, at a time when we all need to move the region forward on the path peace », denounced the Minister of Foreign Affairs, Mr. Barrot, visiting Israel to the press.
Criticizing an “unacceptable situation”, the minister finally decided not to enter this pilgrimage site. Built on the cave known as “du Pater”, where Christ, according to Christian tradition, would have taught the Our Father (Pater noster, in Latin) to his disciples, it is one of the four French national domains in and near Jerusalem, with the Tomb of the Kings, the Basilica of Sainte-Anne and the ancient crusader commandery of Abu Gosh with their Romanesque churches.
Israeli ambassador summoned
« The Eléona estate (…) is an estate which has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but whose security France ensures. », Underlined the minister. The Eléona, next to which there is a Carmelite convent also under French diplomatic protection, “is a holy place,” Father Laurent, rector of the Sainte-Anne basilica, explained to AFP. “Here in Israel, the holy places are particularly protected places. We don't enter with weapons. Moreover, it is a French domain “, he added.
The Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned “in the coming days » to discuss this incident, announced the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs. For its part, Israeli diplomacy assured that security questions had been “clarified” in advance with the French embassy in Tel Aviv. The presence of Israeli security personnel was intended to “ objective of guaranteeing (the) security » by Mr. Barrot, assured the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
An assertion denied by French diplomatic sources who affirm that “ on numerous occasions before the visit » it had been indicated “that no Israeli armed security would be allowed on the site ».
Just after the minister's departure, a new incident involved Israeli police officers in uniform and two French gendarmes in civilian clothes, noted the AFP journalist. During a very tense exchange, Israeli police officers grabbed one of the gendarmes, throwing him to the ground before taking him into a police car. The gendarme, who had identified himself, shouted several times, “Don’t touch me!” », According to this journalist.
“False allegations”
The two gendarmes were then released, a police official explaining that they were not in uniform and had not shown their diplomatic card. “ They know that we work at the French consulate general”replied one of the two consulate agents, pointing to the police officers who had arrested him.
Israeli police said in a statement that “two individuals, initially unidentified » had « refused entry to the site to Israeli agents responsible for the minister's security “. French diplomatic sources for their part castigated “ the false allegations disseminated by the Israeli authorities”.
On January 22, 2022, the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron was also marked by a stampede in front of the Sainte-Anne basilica. The president said in English to an Israeli police officer: I don’t like what you did in front of me » (“I don’t like what you did in front of me”).
The best-known incident remains that of 1996, when President Jacques Chirac also lost his temper against Israeli soldiers who surrounded him too closely by throwing « Do you want me to go back to my plane ? » (Do you want me to get back on board my plane?), before demanding that the soldiers leave the Sainte-Anne area.
Reactions especially on the left
“In Jerusalem, Netanyahu has nothing to do in the territory under French responsibility », Reacted on X the leader of La France insoumise, Jean-Luc Mélenchon. His troops in the Assembly had reacted a little earlier by denouncing a “violation of French sovereignty”, calling not to “accept the repeated acts of arrogance of the” Israeli “government with regard to France”.
The head of the French Communist Party Fabien Roussel insisted that “ France cannot be humiliated like this.” “When we see how the Israeli police treat French gendarmes, we understand better how they treat the Palestinians! » he said on X. The political reactions mainly came from the left, even if a few other voices were expressed. Renaissance MP Brigitte Klinkert notably estimated on X that the minister was “right” not to go to the Eléona. “ It is inconceivable that our diplomatic personnel would be arrested in this way. “, she wrote.
The Senate Foreign Affairs Committee and its president LR Cédric Perrin, for their part, denounced in a press release an “unacceptable arrest”, which “fuels tensions in a context which nevertheless calls for appeasement and dialogue”.
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