Israel refuses entry to French journalist due to anti-Israeli statements

French journalist Alice Froussard was denied entry into Israel on Thursday, in a decision the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry said was due to statements she made that were hostile to the country.

Froussard, who arrived for what the ministry described as an extended work visit, was intercepted at Ben-Gurion Airport and placed on a return flight to France. The decision prompted sharp criticism from French media organizations and press freedom groups.

A prominent French correspondent, Froussard has spent the past six years reporting from Jerusalem and Ramallah for outlets such as Radio France, Le Figaro, TV5Monde and Mediapart.

According to the ministry, airport investigators found that Froussard had made a series of anti-Israel statements, including comments that allegedly legitimized the October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attack, described Israeli military operations in Gaza as a “massacre,” and characterized Israel as an apartheid state.

The move follows France’s recent decisions to bar far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich and National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir from entering the country, as well as sanctions it has imposed with other countries targeting settlement expansion and settler violence.

The Population and Immigration Authority denied her entry following a recommendation from the Diaspora Ministry, headed by right-wing Minister Amichai Chikli. The move follows similar actions against figures Chikli has accused of hostility toward Israel, including Palestinian-American political activist Linda Sarsour.

“Like Linda Sarsour and other instigators before her, Alice Froussard has also realized that we have changed the rules of the game,” Chikli said in a statement. “Anyone who supports Hamas and the Boycott, Divestment and Sanctions movement against the State of Israel will not enter it. Bon Voyage!”

Amihai Chikli, ministre de la diaspora:

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“J’ai le plaisir d’annoncer qu’à cet instant même, Alice Froussard, journaliste française qui soutient le Hamas et qui affirme que le massacre du 7 octobre doit être considéré « dans son contexte », est en route depuis l’aéroport Ben pic.twitter.com/6J6lrdb5eR

— RACHEL- CHAOUAT (@chaouat1) June 11, 2026

Chikli also took the opportunity to criticize French President Emmanuel Macron and Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot, both of whom he has repeatedly accused of espousing anti-Israel positions.

“As for the expected criticism from Macron and Jean-Noël Barrot… you’ve made this decision very easy,” he said.

Press freedom advocates condemn move

Froussard has not yet commented publicly, but the Foreign Press Association and other bodies strongly condemned the decision.

“Alice has been working in Israel and the Palestinian Territories for RFI and Radio France for many years, and the allegations made against our colleague are outrageous,” the FPA wrote in a statement.

“We find it especially alarming that a government minister would boast about this on social media to his supporters. This is not the first case in which the Israeli government decides that the journalistic coverage is ‘one-sided.'”

Radio France Internationale also denounced the move in a strongly worded statement on its website.

“The Israeli authorities have not provided RFI with any justification for this decision,” it said, adding that the expulsion “constitutes an obstacle to press freedom and comes at a time of increasing difficulties faced by journalists in covering news in the region.”

France’s Society of Journalists also condemned the move, saying that Froussard “has been reporting on the lives of Palestinians for six years. All her reports have been nothing more than a reflection of facts, testimonies, and accounts reported with the utmost precision.”

Reporters Without Borders called the move “an extremely serious attack on freedom.”

“The refusal to allow her to do her job reveals the lengths to which the Israeli authorities are willing to go to deprive international public opinion of information from Palestine,” the organization said.