The French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrot, did not appreciate this and made it known publicly. Thursday, November 7, while traveling in Israel and the Palestinian Territories, he clashed with Israeli police officers at Eléona, a sanctuary located in Jerusalem–East, at the top of the Mount of Olives, and under the protection of France.
To protest against their presence, Jean-Noël Barrot refused to go there. “Israeli security entered armed into the French domain of the Eléona. So I refused to enter. Two agents from our consulate were then arrested, then released. I strongly condemn these acts, while France works towards appeasement in the region”he explained on X.
The presence of Israeli security personnel was intended to “objective of guaranteeing security” by Jean-Noël 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 specified “that no Israeli armed security would be allowed on the site”.
The dispute over national domains
This incident is not an accident. It is part of a history and a very tense relationship between the two countries. Built on the grotto known as “du Pater”, where Christ, according to Christian tradition, taught the Our Father (our fatherin Latin) to her disciples, Eléona has the status of a French national domain like the Tomb of the Kings, the Sainte-Anne basilica and the old crusader commandery of Abou Gosh with their Romanesque churches. Eléona was purchased at the end of the 19th century by the Princess de La Tour d'Auvergne, “who had a cloister built there by Viollet-le-Duc to frame the cave. She later donated it to France.explains the French consulate in Jerusalem on its website.
However, this building stands in the eastern part of Jerusalem, a territory annexed by Israel in 1967: an annexation that France does not recognize. The presence of Israeli police officers and the arrest of the two gendarmes at this site may be understood as a message that Israeli forces are at home here. This is all the more credible as French national domains are not unanimously supported in Israel, their challenge having led to incidents in the past. Thus, in 2019, the Tomb of the Kings site was closed by Paris, due to clashes caused by ultra-Orthodox Jews who did not recognize French sovereignty over this place.
Emmanuel Macron and Jacques Chirac, already
The incident with Emmanuel Macron in January 2020 was part of the same framework. Approaching the Sainte-Anne church, the president refused to allow the Israeli security service to take care of his security inside this building, belonging to France. “Please come out, no one has to provoke anyone, understand?” (…) Please respect the rules that have been established for centuries, they will not change with me, I can tell you that. It's France here, and everyone knows the rules.” he told them.
Already in 1996, when Jacques Chirac was about to enter Sainte-Anne – after an initial scuffle with the Israeli army in the streets of the old town – Israeli soldiers had preceded him into the grounds of the basilica. The French president, refusing to enter, shouts to them: “I don’t want armed people on French territory… I will wait. » And he obtained satisfaction, to the applause of the crowd.
Diplomatic tensions
Eléona's episode breaks out at a time when relations between French President Emmanuel Macron and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are at their lowest point. Latest incidents to date, the heated controversy sparked by the French president's comments, on October 15, on the creation of Israel and the UN; as well as his declarations, two days before the October 7 commemorations, on the need to stop delivering weapons to Israel for its war in Gaza. Each time, he attracted scathing reactions from the Israeli Prime Minister.
These tensions are likely to increase further in the coming days. On November 13, the far-right Israeli minister, Bezalel Smotrich, is expected in Paris at the invitation of the Israel is Forever association, for a private gala. This presence is denounced by human rights associations and unions, including the FIDH and the CGT.
The next day there will be a football match between France and Israel, at the Stade de France, in the League of Nations. A meeting which appears high risk after the clashes on Thursday November 7 in the Netherlands which followed a meeting between Ajax Amsterdam and Maccabi Tel-Aviv.
