The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, during questions to the government, November 6, 2024 in Paris (AFP / Alain JOCARD)
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, “strongly” condemned on Friday the diplomatic incident that occurred the day before during the visit of the Minister of Foreign Affairs to Jerusalem, around sixty deputies also asking that Emmanuel Macron recall “immediately the French Ambassador to Israel in France for consultation.”
“An extremely serious incident occurred yesterday at the Eléona, a French national estate in Jerusalem. I strongly condemn it, even more so as France works to promote appeasement in the region. I wanted to inform of my indignation to my Israeli counterpart,” Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, wrote on X Ms. Braun-Pivet.
A little later in the day, around sixty deputies signed a joint press release in which they took “note” of the decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot to “summon the Israeli ambassador to France”, wishing that this summons takes place “without delay”. They also asked the President of the Republic Emmanuel Macron “to immediately recall the French Ambassador to Israel in France for consultation”.
They also asked Ms Braun-Pivet to address to the Knesset, on behalf of the Assembly, the “indignant protests” of the deputies, asking Israeli parliamentarians to “condemn the serious actions of their government”.
Among the signatories, most of the figures of the New Popular Front, joined by Lionel Causse and Eléonore Caroit (Together for the Republic), Laëtitia Saint-Paul (Horizons), Richard Ramos (MoDem), Harold Huwart (Liot) and the ex-Renaissance Stella Dupont and Sacha Houlié.
On Thursday, Israeli police entered “armed” and “without authorization”, according to Jean-Noël Barrot, into the grounds of the Eléona national domain, owned by France since the 19th century and located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. -East.
After the minister's departure, two gendarmes were arrested and detained by the Israeli authorities before being released.
Israeli diplomacy assured for its part 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, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
