Last Thursday, Israeli security forces entered Eléona, a French national estate in East Jerusalem, without authorization, on the sidelines of a trip by Minister Jean-Noël Barrot.
The Israeli ambassador to France, Joshua Zarak, is summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, November 12, indicates the Quai d’Orsay at Figaroconfirming information from BFMTV. He will have to “provide explanations and discuss possible outcomes” of the diplomatic incident which took place last Thursday in Jerusalem. On the sidelines of a trip by Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, Israeli security forces entered armed and without authorization into Eléona, a French national estate in East Jerusalem located on the Mount of Olives.
Two French gendarmes were also arrested and then released by the Israeli police, although they were agents with diplomatic status. These facts “are not acceptable”the minister indicated on Thursday. “France condemns them with all the more vigor as they intervene in a context where it is doing everything possible to work to de-escalate violence in the region”recalls the Quai d’Orsay.
Shortly after the events, Israeli diplomacy assured that security issues had been “clarified” in advance with the French Embassy in Tel Aviv. The presence of Israeli security personnel was intended to “objective of guaranteeing (the) security” by Jean-Noël Barrot, said the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release.
Indignant political reactions
The President of the National Assembly, Yaël Braun-Pivet, “firmly” condemned the diplomatic incident on Friday, 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 towards appeasement in the region. I wanted to express my indignation to my Israeli counterpart”Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, wrote about X Ms. Braun-Pivet.
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A little later in the day, around sixty deputies signed a joint press release in which they took “act” of the decision of the Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot to “summon the Israeli ambassador to France”wishing that this convocation 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 further requested Yaël Braun-Pivet to address to the Knesset, on behalf of the Assembly, the “indignant protests” MPs, 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 Éléonore Caroit (Together for the Republic), Laëtitia Saint-Paul (Horizons), Richard Ramos (MoDem), Harold Huwart (Liot) and the ex-Renaissance Stella Dupont and Sacha Houlié.
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