A diplomatic incident between France and Israel marred the visit to Jerusalem by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday.
According to the latter, Israeli police officers entered the Eleona “armed”.
This religious site has belonged to France since 1868.
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When the standoff between France and Israel comes to the heart of a historic place. The visit of Jean-Noël Barrot, Minister of Foreign Affairs on Thursday November 7, turned into a diplomatic incident, following the entry “without permissionn” and “army” of the Israeli police on a site in Jerusalem belonging to France. Namely the Eléona.
This pilgrimage site owes its name to the Greek word “elaion”, meaning “olive grove”. And for good reason: the complex is located on the heights of 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, the Eleona is one of the four French national domains near Jerusalem, with the Tomb of the Kings, the Basilica of Saint Anne and the old crusader commandery of Abu Gosh with their Romanesque churches.
A place managed by France since 1868
Also called the Church of the Pater Noster, the Eleona has a rich history. It was first built by Constantine in the 4th century. A convent, but also a monastery and a chapel were added around 430. Destroyed in the 7th century then rebuilt during the time of Charlemagne, the church was demolished again at the beginning of the 11th century. A new building would have been built during the occupation of Jerusalem by the Crusaders. But it was not until 1856 that Princess Héloïse de la Tour d'Auvergne, traveling to the holy city, decided to acquire several hectares on the Mount of Olives so that the place would rise from its ashes.
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The aristocrat had a cloister measuring 30 meters by 20 meters built in 1868, based on plans by Eugène Viollet-le-Duc. She donated the site to France the same year. Part of the premises is also given to the Carmelite sisters, who still live there, and part to the White Fathers.
“The Eléona estate (…) is an estate which has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but which France ensures the security, maintenance and with enormous care“, Jean-Noël Barrot said this Thursday. “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 marked by a stampede, this time 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 my plane?), before demanding that the soldiers leave the Sainte-Anne domain.
