the essential
Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot's trip to Israel was disrupted by the arrest of two French gendarmes who were ensuring his security. According to him, these French gendarmes had the right to exercise in this sector of Jerusalem, because the Mount of Olives is part of the French national domain. Explanations.
“Do you want me to go back to my plane ?” (you want me to return to my plane, Editor's note). The famous phrase uttered by Jacques Chirac while visiting Israel in 1996 has resonated particularly since this Thursday, November 7. Already 28 years ago, the special status of certain places of Jerusalem had caused a diplomatic incident between France and Israel.
This year, it was at the church of Eleona (the olive grove in Greek) that tempers heated up. In question, the arrest of two French gendarmes, in charge of the security of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot, by the Israeli police.
Israeli police arrest 2 French gendarmes in the area of the French-owned Eleona in East Jerusalem. The gendarmes had asked the police not to enter this place before the planned visit of the MAE@jnbarrot pic.twitter.com/597vz2Manv
— Sami Boukhelifa (@sambklf) https://twitter.com/sambklf/status/1854544683646558335?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw
In 1996, it was at the Saint-Anne church, above which the French flag flies, that Jacques Chirac refused to enter, due to the presence of armed Israeli police officers in the religious building. A similar incident took place in 2020, in the presence of Emmanuel Macron. Each time, France had accused Israel of not respecting the special status of the places, officially in the French national domain.
Like the Mount of Olives, three sites in Jerusalem are French properties, managed by the French consulate general. These are the monastery of Abu Gosh, the tomb of the kings and the church of Saint-Anne. This “enclave” dates back to the 16the century, a period in which the Ottoman Empire recognized a mission to protect Christians in the Holy Land, as recalled RFI.
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As for the church of Eleona, it was acquired by Héloïse de la Tour d'Auvergne in 1856, before she donated it to France on her death in 1874, explains Le Figaro.
“Everybody knows the rules”
This particular status is a source of tensions between France and Israel, which considers itself responsible for the security of its hosts on its territory, which French diplomacy contests. The former French ambassador to Israel details, in an article in RMC that this status can be a source of incomprehension between the two countries: “It is not 'our territory'”, he specifies, explaining “that in principle”, according to France, Israel does not have the right to use force there while the Israeli authorities believe the opposite.
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“Everybody knows the rules” (everyone knows the rules, Editor's note), Emmanuel Macron tried to explain during his visit in 2020, but, four years later, it is clear that everything is not so clear. Indeed, following this new diplomatic incident that occurred at the Mount of Olives, the Israeli ambassador will be summoned, says a diplomatic source to the correspondent of RFI in Jerusalem. “The incident will not stop there, especially since it is aggravated by the false allegations disseminated by the Israeli authorities,” the latter explains to our colleagues.
In a tense context between Emmanuel Macron and Benjamin Netanyahu, will this new incident add fuel to the fire? Jean-Noël Barrot in any case “firmly condemned these acts”, “while France is working towards appeasement in the region”.
