Paris has summoned Israel’s Ambassador to France to protest a number of diplomatic snafus that caused French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot to cancel a planned visit to the Church of Eleona on Jerusalem’s Mount of Olives on Thursday.
The Church has been under French domain since the Ottoman Empire, even though is located in east Jerusalem, which effectively means that it has the status akin to French foreign sovereignty.
France has charged that Israel violated its sovereign site, while Israel has argued that French prevented them from carrying out basic security procedures.
French FM visit
The snafu marred Barrot’s one-day visit to Jerusalem and Ramallah.
“These actions are unacceptable,” the French Foreign Ministry said.
“France strongly condemns these actions, with particular emphasis on the fact they took place in a context whereby France is doing everything it can to work towards the de-escalation of violence in the region,” the ministry added.The problem started when a number of armed Israeli Security Agency officers (Shin Bet) assigned to provide security for Barrot tried to enter the Church.
The French Foreign Ministry charged that Shin Bet officers entered the Church without permission. “The Minister did not wish to visit the compound in these conditions,” he said.
The situation, however, did not end there. After Barrot left, “two staff members of the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem were arrested by Israeli police, despite the fact that they are officials with diplomatic status. They were then released following [Barrot’s] intervention,” the French Foreign Ministry said.The Israeli police said the incident had been vastly overblown.
The security for Barrot’s visit was “conducted by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet), in accordance with standard protocols,” the police said.
“During the visit, two individuals at the monastery, initially unidentified, attempted to prevent the Minister's ISA security personnel from carrying out their duties by refusing them entry to the site (needed in order to continue their duties of guarding the Foreign Minister),” the police said in a prepared statement.
“After the two individuals at the monastery refused to identify themselves or cooperate with necessary security procedures, they were temporarily detained for further identification.
“It was later determined that they were employees of the French consulate. After cooperating with the authorities, they were released on the spot, approximately 20 minutes later,” the police said.
“The visit was ultimately canceled by the French Foreign Minister. However, we emphasize that no French police officers or any bodyguards who were escorting the Foreign Minister were arrested during the incident. Those refused entry were ISA personnel assigned as security to the Foreign Minister,” the police explained....