two French gendarmes arrested by Israeli police officers at Eleona, an estate owned by France

French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot’s visit to Jerusalem on Thursday was marked by a diplomatic incident when Israeli police entered “army” et “without authorization”according to the minister, on a site belonging to France. The head of diplomacy denounced a “unacceptable situation” and refused to enter Eléona, a pilgrimage site, while Israeli police briefly arrested two French gendarmes on site, noted an AFP journalist.

“I am not going to enter (…) today, because the Israeli security forces entered there in an armed manner, without first obtaining authorization from France and without agreeing to leave”he told the press. “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 advance the region on the path of peacehe stressed.

During virulent exchanges, Israeli police surrounded two French gendarmes, grabbing one of them by force and putting him on the ground before loading him into a police car. The official, who had identified himself, yelled several times “Don’t touch me!”according to the AFP journalist. The two gendarmes were later released and it was not specified why the Israeli police entered the site.

“Integrity”

The Eleona, within which there is a Benedictine monastery, is located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967. Built on the so-called Pater cave, where Christ is said to have taught the Pater 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 Saint Anne and the ancient crusader commandery of Abu Gosh with their Romanesque churches. “The Eléona estate (…) is an estate which has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but whose security and maintenance France ensures with enormous care”said the minister. “The integrity of the four areas for which France is responsible here in Jerusalem must be respected”he insisted.

On January 22, 2020, the visit of French President Emmanuel Macron was also marked by a stampede in front of the Sainte-Anne basilica. The president had 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.