rebellious deputies denounce an “unacceptable act of intimidation”, the political class reacts

LFI deputies described Thursday as an act “unacceptable intimidation” the diplomatic incident during the visit to Jerusalem of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Jean-Luc Mélenchon for his part attacking Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “In Jerusalem, Netanyahu has nothing to do in the territory under French responsibility”wrote the leader of La France insoumise on X. His troops in the Assembly had reacted a little earlier by denouncing a “violation of French sovereignty”calling not to “accept the government’s repeated acts of arrogance” Israeli “with regard to France”.

They were reacting to the entry of Israeli police officers “armed” et “without authorization” within the grounds of the Eléona national domain, a religious site belonging to France. Denouncing a “unacceptable situation”the minister finally decided not to go to this pilgrimage site. Two consulate agents also “were arrested, then released”according to the head of French diplomacy. Israeli diplomacy, for its part, assured that security issues had been “clarified” in advance with the French Embassy in Tel Aviv.

Condemnation right and center

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 had “was right” not to go to 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 a “unacceptable arrest”Who “fuels tensions in a context which nevertheless calls for appeasement and dialogue”.