a diplomatic incident between Israel and France, what we know

ISRAEL – While Benjamin Netanyahu welcomes the return of Donald Trump to the White House, relations between Israel and France do not seem to be in good shape. This Thursday, November 7, the visit of the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, to Jerusalem was marked by a diplomatic incident.

The Israeli police in fact entered an area belonging to France, before arresting two French gendarmes. THE HuffPost takes stock of the situation, in the midst of war in Gaza and Lebanon.

• The origin of this diplomatic incident

The Israeli police entered ” army “ et “without permission” on the L’Eléona site, managed by France, according to the minister. Jean-Noël Barrot denounced a “unacceptable situation” and refused to enter this place of pilgrimage. “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 peace »underlined the Minister of Foreign Affairs on site.

• The Quai d’Orsay reacts

“I strongly condemn these acts, while France works to bring appeasement to the region”then added Jean-Noël Barrot in a post on X, sharing a press release from the Quai d’Orsay on the incident published a few hours later. France announced it would summon the Israeli ambassador to Paris “in the coming days”.

France condemns these actions “ with all the more vigor as they intervene in a context where it is doing everything possible to work towards the de-escalation of violence in the region”added the Quai d’Orsay in its press release.

• Israel’s response

Israel, for its part, denied being at the origin of a diplomatic incident. “ The procedures were clarified in advance during preparatory discussions with the French Embassy in Israel,” the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs justified itself in a press release, without however giving further explanations.

• A second incident noted

Shortly after this incident, Israeli police arrested two French gendarmes on site, noted an AFP journalist. On the video shot by the agency, which can be seen belowwe see virulent exchanges between the two parties. “Don’t touch me”one of the French gendarmes repeats over and over again, before being forcefully grabbed by Israeli officials and taken into a police car.

The two gendarmes were later released and it was not specified why the Israeli police entered the site. According to information from Europe 1, the two Israeli state agents wanted to check videos and photos taken by French officials.

• A place steeped in history

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.

This is not the first time that a diplomatic incident has occurred involving Israeli police officers: 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 » (“I don’t like what you did in front of me”).

In 1996, Jacques Chirac also lost his temper against Israeli soldiers who surrounded him too closely by launching « 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.

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