Israeli police arrest French gendarmes in French-owned Jerusalem compound

Israeli police entered the French-owned Eleona church compound in Jerusalem, on Thursday, November 7, briefly detaining two gendarmes and prompting French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to abandon a scheduled visit, an Agence France-Presse (AFP) journalist reported.

Barrot said the standoff at the Eleona church compound in annexed east Jerusalem was “unacceptable,” with the Foreign Ministry in Paris later saying Israel’s ambassador would be summoned over the incident.

Israel’s Foreign Ministry maintained that the security protocol for the visit had been “clarified” in advance, and the police said the French gendarmes had not identified themselves and obstructed the Israeli force’s work. The AFP journalist saw Israeli police surround the two French gendarmes, who were not in uniform, before pushing one of them to the ground.

The gendarme identified himself and shouted “Don’t touch me” several times, according to the journalist. Both gendarmes were then led into police cars before being released.

Barrot, speaking at the scene, said: “I will not enter the Eleona Domain today, because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorization, without agreeing to leave.”

The Eleona compound, one of four French-owned sites that make up the French national domain in the Holy Land, “has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but France also ensures its security, maintains it,” he said. “The integrity of the four domains that France is responsible for here in Jerusalem must be respected,” Barrot added.

The police issued a statement saying they were just doing their job.

“Two individuals at the monastery, initially unidentified, attempted to prevent the minister’s ISA [Shin Bet internal security agency] security personnel from carrying out their duties by refusing them entry to the site,” Israel’s police said.

The Sanctuary of the Eleona and the three other French-owned national domain sites have been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past. The national domain was attributed to France before Israel’s creation and is administered as a private property by the French consulate in Jerusalem.

AFP footage showed police telling the gendarmes accompanying Barrot that next time they must show their identity cards. “I understand, I’m sorry,” one of the gendarmes responded but added that the officers who had detained him knew who he was.

“They know we work at the French consulate because we were arguing with each other about this place being French or not,” the gendarme said. Barrot said that the “violation” at the church compound was “liable to weaken the ties that I came here to cultivate with Israel, at a time when all of us need to help the region advance on the path towards peace.”