UN, France state concerns about Israel turmoil

The office of UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres and a representative of France’s ministry of foreign affairs state concerns about developments in Israel.

“We’re obviously watching the developments that are going on in Israel internally very closely,” a spokesperson for Guterres says. “And I think, as we would anywhere else, a reminder that people have a right to demonstrate peacefully, and their demonstration should be done peacefully.”

“France is following the news on the plans to overhaul the judiciary in Israel with great concern. We reaffirm our deep commitment to the democratic principles that constitute the basis of the friendship between our two countries,” the French embassy in the US says in a statement.

“France calls on the Israeli political leaders to refrain from any actions or statements that are likely to worsen the crisis,” the statement says.