From the Liveblog of
Tuesday, November 12, 2024
French FM reprimands Israeli envoy after incident at French-owned church in Jerusalem
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Israel’s Ambassador to France Joshua Zarka is meeting in Paris with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot today for a reprimand after a diplomatic incident at a French-owned church in Jerusalem last week.
On Thursday, Israeli police officers arrested two French guards with diplomatic visas during a scuffle ahead of Barrot’s visit to the Eleona Church on the Mount of Olives. A French statement said that “without having been authorized to do so, Israeli security forces entered the site armed. The minister did not wish to visit the site under these conditions.”
The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that two security guards were detained after refusing to identify themselves, but were released after showing their diplomatic identify cards. France said the two men, staffers from the French Consulate in Jerusalem, were released upon Barrot’s intervention.
