Diplomatic incident in Jerusalem: Israeli ambassador summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs this Tuesday

Paris promised it, it is now a done deal. Israel's Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka will be summoned to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Tuesday, November 12, the Quai d'Orsay said this Monday in a message to the press, confirming information from BFMTV. This follows the diplomatic incident that occurred at the Eléona in Jerusalem last Thursday. Israeli police had entered this area managed by Paris in Jerusalem since the 19th century, when Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot was in Israel. Two French gendarmes in civilian clothes were also arrested after the minister's departure.

“The presence of armed Israeli security at the Eléona estate as well as the arrest of two staff from the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem are not acceptable. 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,” the Quai d'Orsay protested this Monday. “The Israeli ambassador to France will therefore be summoned to the Ministry to provide explanations and discuss possible follow-ups. »

For its part, Israeli diplomacy assured that security questions had been “clarified” in advance with the French embassy in Tel Aviv. The presence of Israeli security personnel had the “objective of guaranteeing (the) security” of Jean-Noël Barrot, assured the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs in a press release. An assertion denied by French diplomatic sources who had affirmed that “on numerous occasions before the visit” it had been indicated “that no Israeli armed security would be authorized on the site”.

The two arrested gendarmes were then released, a police official explaining that they were not in uniform and that they had not shown their diplomatic card. “They know that we work at the French consulate general,” one of the two consulate agents replied, pointing to the police officers who had arrested him.

The Israeli police had stated in a press release that “two individuals, initially unidentified” had “refused entry to the site to Israeli agents responsible for the minister's security”. French diplomatic sources had criticized “the false allegations disseminated by the Israeli authorities”.