Ex-employee of French Foreign Ministry filmed tearing down posters of Gaza hostages

A former employee of the French Foreign Ministry is filmed in Paris tearing down posters of Israeli hostages held by Hamas.

Sophie Pommier, who until last summer was a training adviser in the Middle East department of the Quai d’Orsay, cries “Israel assassin” as she tears down the posters. She is confronted by several passersby, whom she then engages in a shouting match.

Sophie Pommier, conseillère en formation sur le Proche-Orient au ministère des Affaires étrangères, arrache des photos d’otages du Hamas, dont des enfants, des femmes, des bébés et huit Français en criant « Israël assassin » !

L’antisémitisme, la haine d’Israël et l’apologie du… pic.twitter.com/VZ9L7NFGHp

— Meyer Habib (@Meyer_Habib) November 7, 2023

“Although this person has no longer had contractual relations with this ministry since last summer, an administrative investigation will be carried out from today at the request of Minister Catherine Colonna into the conditions of her recruitment,” writes Mathieu Hedoin, a French diplomat based in Israel.

Hedoin says in a tweet that tearing down the posters, and French publications comparing Hamas to the French Resistance in World War II, could be prosecuted by the French courts.

“The video released today shows a totally unworthy attitude, behavior and comments, which completely disqualify this person from maintaining any working relationship with the Ministry of Europe and Foreign Affairs,” writes Hedoin.