Diplomatic incident in Jerusalem: Israeli police officers put a French gendarme on the ground then take him away with another colleague

It is an “unacceptable situation” declared the French Minister of Foreign Affairs Jean-Noël Barrot visiting Jerusalem this Thursday, November 7, when a diplomatic incident had just occurred.

The Israeli police entered “armed” and “without authorization”, according to the minister, on a site belonging to France.

Mr. Barrot declared an “unacceptable situation” and refused to enter Eléona, a pilgrimage site, while Israeli police briefly arrested two French gendarmes on site, noted an AFP journalist.

“I'm not going in […] today, because Israeli security forces entered there, without first obtaining authorization from France and without agreeing to leave armed,” he told the press.

“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,” he stressed.

During virulent exchanges, Israeli police surrounded two French gendarmes, grabbing one of them by force and putting him on the ground before loading him into a police car. The official, who had identified himself, said several times: “Don't touch me!”, according to the AFP journalist.

The scene was published on X by Sami Boukhelifa, correspondent for RFI in the Middle East.

The two gendarmes were later released and it was not clear why the Israeli police entered the site.

The ministry indicates on X that these are “two staff from the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem”, “agents with diplomatic status”.

The Eleona, within which there is a Benedictine monastery, is located on the Mount of Olives in East Jerusalem, the Palestinian part of the city occupied and annexed by Israel since 1967.

Built on the so-called Pater cave, where Christ is said to have taught the Pater to his disciples, it is one of the four French national domains in and near Jerusalem, with the Tomb of the Kings, the Basilica of Saint Anne and the old crusader commandery. of Abu Gosh with their Romanesque churches.

“Integrity”

“The domain of Eléona […] is an area which has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but which France ensures the security and maintenance of with enormous care,” said the minister.

“The integrity of the four areas for which France is responsible here in Jerusalem must be respected,” he insisted.

On January 22, 2020, 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?” demand that the military leave the Sainte-Anne domain.