the essential
This incident occurred during the visit to Jerusalem of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot. Here is what we know about this significant episode between Paris and Jerusalem.
The visit to Jerusalem by French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot was marked Thursday by a diplomatic incident, when Israeli police entered “armed” and “without authorization”, according to the minister, on a site belonging to France, the Eleona.
Two French gendarmes arrested
Israeli police briefly arrested two French gendarmes on site. 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 an AFP journalist.
The two gendarmes were later released and it was not specified why the Israeli police entered the site.
France's reaction
Jean-Noël Barrot denounced an “unacceptable situation” and refused to enter the Eléona “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 move the region forward on the path to peace “, he stressed.
Israeli security entered armed into the French domain of the Eleona.
So I refused to enter.Two agents from our consulate were then arrested, then released.
I strongly condemn these acts, while France works to bring peace to the region. https://t.co/1IN0Wu8Tq6
— Jean-Noël Barrot (@jnbarrot) https://twitter.com/jnbarrot/status/1854578815961383167?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
“The Israeli ambassador to France will be summoned to the Ministry in the coming days,” added the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
What is Eléona?
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 domain of Eléona […] is an area which not only has belonged to France for more than 150 years, but whose security and maintenance France ensures with enormous care”, affirmed Jean-Noël Barrot. “The integrity of the four areas including the France has the responsibility here in Jerusalem must be respected,” insisted the minister.
Have diplomatic incidents already taken place between France and Israel?
This is not the first hiccup between Paris and Jerusalem. Last October, peacekeepers – the United Nations military peacekeeping force to which France contributes – were targeted by fire from the Israeli army in Lebanon. In the process, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that it had summoned the Israeli ambassador to France.
Also read:
War in the Middle East: Israel faces a round of criticism after shooting against peacekeepers in Lebanon
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 said in English to an Israeli police officer: “I don't like what you did in front of me.” The most famous incident remains that of 1996, when President Jacques Chirac also lost his temper against Israeli soldiers who were surrounding him too closely, saying “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.
