November 08, (THEWILL) – French foreign minister, Jean-Noël Barrot, has cancelled a scheduled visit to a holy site in Jerusalem under French control after armed Israeli police entered the site and briefly arrested two French gendarmes.
France has summoned the Israeli ambassador over the incident, the latest of several controversies involving the Eleona sanctuary on the Mount of Olives, which along with three other sites make up the French national domain in the Holy Land.
The sites have been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past. The national domain was attributed to France before Israel’s creation in 1948 and is administered as private property by the French consulate in Jerusalem.
According to an AFP journalist, who witnessed the incident, Israeli police entered the site and surrounded the two French gendarmes, before pushing one of them to the ground. They were then led into police cars, before being later released.
“I will not enter the Eleona domain today, because Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorisation. This violation of the integrity of a domain placed in the care of France is liable to weaken the ties that I came here to cultivate with Israel, at a time when all of us need to help the region advance on the path towards peace.
“The Eleona has not only belonged to France for more than 150 years, but France also ensures its security, maintains it. The integrity of the four sites that France is responsible for here in Jerusalem must be respected”, Barrot said, describing the situation as “unacceptable”.
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