A diplomatic incident between France and Israel disrupted the visit to Jerusalem of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on Thursday when Israeli police entered “armed” and “without authorization,” according to him, on a religious site belonging to the France.
According to an AFP journalist on site, Israeli police officers entered the grounds of the Eléona national domain, owned by France since the 19th century located on the Mount of Olives in the Palestinian part of Al Quds city. occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.
“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 to peace,” Barrot denounced to the press.
Criticizing an “unacceptable situation”, the minister finally decided not to enter this pilgrimage site.
Israeli ambassador summoned
The Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned “in the coming days” to discuss this incident, the French Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced.
For its part, Israeli diplomacy assured that security questions had been “clarified” in advance with the French embassy in Tel Aviv.
The presence of Israeli security personnel was “aimed at guaranteeing (the) security” of Mr. Barrot, assured the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
An assertion denied by French diplomatic sources who affirm that “on numerous occasions before the visit” it had been indicated “that no Israeli armed security would be authorized on the site”.
Just after the minister’s departure, a new incident involved Israeli police officers in uniform and two French gendarmes in civilian clothes, noted the AFP journalist.
During a very tense exchange, Israeli police officers grabbed one of the gendarmes, throwing him to the ground before taking him into a police car. The gendarme, who had identified himself, shouted several times, “Don’t touch me!” », According to this journalist.
“False allegations”
The two gendarmes were then released, a police official explaining that they were not in uniform and had not shown their diplomatic card.
“They know that we work at the French consulate general,” replied one of the two consulate agents, pointing to the police officers who had arrested him.
The Israeli police said in a statement that “two initially unidentified individuals” had “refused entry to the site to Israeli agents responsible for the minister’s security.”
French diplomatic sources, for their part, castigated “the false allegations disseminated by the Israeli authorities”.
On January 22, 2022, 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.
