PARIS (Reuters) – France accused Israel on Thursday of harming ties between the two countries after Israeli security forces entered a French-run holy site in Jerusalem and briefly detained two French citizens who have diplomatic status.
The incident occurred when French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the Church of the Lord’s Prayer complex on the Mount of Olives. The site, one of four administered by France in Jerusalem, is under the responsibility of Paris and is considered French territory.
French diplomatic sources said Israeli security had been instructed not to enter before Barrot’s visit.
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However, they did so, and as a consequence Barrot refused to enter the compound, called Eleona in French, while they were present. Two French officials were briefly arrested, the sources said, adding that the Israelis were aware that both were from the consulate and held diplomatic status.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement that an argument took place between Israeli forces and two French security guards. They were released immediately after identifying themselves as diplomats, the ministry said.
“This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks undermining the ties I have come to cultivate with Israel at a time when we all need to move the region forward on the path to peace,” said a visibly irritated Barrot. to journalists outside the building.
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Israel’s Foreign Ministry said every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by his security team, a point that was “clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel.”
A French diplomatic source said Israeli authorities were spreading “false allegations”. The Foreign Ministry stated that the Israeli ambassador in Paris will be summoned in the coming days.
Diplomatic relations between France and Israel entered into crisis when French President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to the supply of weapons used in the Gaza Strip. The French government also tried to ban Israeli arms companies from exhibiting at a fair in Paris, adopting an increasingly critical stance towards the country’s conduct in wars in the Middle East.
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French officials have said Paris is committed to Israel’s security, and that its armed forces helped defend the country when Iran fired missiles into Israeli territory this year.
Barrot’s trip was aimed at pressuring Israel to engage diplomatically to end conflicts in the region.
It was not the first time that tensions have arisen over historic French properties in the city.
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In 2020, Macron lost his temper when visiting Saint Anne’s Church, another site under French administration, demanding that the Israeli security team leave the Jerusalem basilica.
A similar incident occurred in 1996 involving the then president of France, Jacques Chirac, who considered the treatment by Israeli security to be a “provocation”.
(Reporting by John Irish, Tassilo Hummel, Piotr Lipinski and Emily Rose in Jerusalem)
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