Diplomatic incident between France and Israel: gendarmes arrested, ambassador summoned… what happened?

What happened between France and Israel ? A diplomatic incident broke out between the two countries on Thursday, November 7, 2024: Paris accused Jerusalem of damage bilateral relations.

An arrest that leaves a mark

Two French gendarmes enjoying diplomatic status were briefly arrested by Israeli security forces in the French national domain of Eléona, located on the Mount of Olives in Jerusalem. They were responsible for the securing the Pater Noster church site. Two diplomatic sources added that the Israelis knew the pair was attached to the consulate and that he benefited from diplomatic status. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said, for its part, in a statement, that a quarrel had broken out between the Israeli security forces and the two French gendarmes, and that the latter had been released as soon as they had identified themselves.

“I’m not going to enter the domain.”

The incident occurred while the French Minister of Foreign Affairs, Jean-Noël Barrotwas to visit this enclosure administered by France. According to a diplomatic source, Israeli security forces had been asked not to enter the site before the visit. However, they entered the enclosure and the French minister refused to enter as long as they were there.

“I will not enter the Eléona grounds today because the Israeli security forces entered it armed without first obtaining authorization from France and without agreeing to leave it,” declared Jean-Noël Barrot to journalists. “This attack on the integrity of an area placed under the responsibility of France is of a nature to weaken the links that I had nevertheless come to cultivate with Israelat a time when we all need to move the region forward on the path to peace,” he said.

Israeli ambassador summoned

Israeli diplomacy affirmed that each visit by a foreign official was accompanied by Israeli security personnel and that this point had been “clarified in advance with the French embassy in Israel”. A French diplomatic source said Israeli authorities were broadcastingt “false accusations” and that the incident was not yet closed. The Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in the coming days, the Quai d'Orsay said in a press release.