France condemned the brief detentions by Israeli police after they raided a French holy site in Jerusalem and detained two consulate employees, the latest in a series of diplomatic disputes that have further soured relations between the two countries.
The incident occurred while French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was scheduled to visit the French Church of Eleona on Thursday.
The French Foreign Ministry said armed Israeli officers entered the area without permission and detained two consulate employees with diplomatic status, prompting Barrot to cancel his visit.
According to CNN, “This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks weakening the ties I had come to nurture with Israel at a time when we all need to move forward in the region on the path to peace,” Barrot said while in Jerusalem
According to the statement of the French Foreign Ministry, the employees were released as a result of the minister’s intervention.
In a separate statement, the Israeli Foreign Ministry said an argument broke out between Israeli security forces and two French security officers who refused to identify themselves. Police detained the two men and released them when it was determined they were diplomats.
The Eleona Church Complex is one of the four holy sites in Jerusalem, France, which constitute the national domain of France and are administered by the French authorities.
“This violation of a site under French responsibility risks weakening relations with Israel at a time when we must move forward on the path of peace in the region,” Barrot said.
Barrot met with Israeli officials on Thursday to call for diplomatic solutions to end the wars in Gaza and Lebanon amid international concern over rising civilian casualties.
The visit comes amid escalating tensions between the countries after French President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to arms exports to Israel for use in Gaza.
European countries, including France, have expressed their anger over Israel’s military attacks on United Nations Peace Force (UNIFIL) positions in southern Lebanon.
Israel claimed it did not intend to harm UNIFIL forces but that Hezbollah was using the peacekeepers as shields.
Macron criticized Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a conference last month, accusing him of “inciting brutality.”
The French government also tried to block Israeli arms companies from attending a trade fair in Paris this month, but that decision was later overturned by a French court.
There have been many incidents between French officials and Israeli security guards at venues run by France in Jerusalem. In 2020, Macron got into an argument with Israeli security guards during a visit to Saint Anne Church, shouting, “I don’t like what you are doing in front of me.”
