Senior settler leader Yossi Dagan denied entry into France

Settler leader and head of the Samaria Regional Council Yossi Dagan said Wednesday that he was denied entry into France last week after flying to Paris for a series of meetings.

The Foreign Ministry condemned the French decision and said it would demand an explanation from Paris for the move.

Dagan’s office said he was taken aside for questioning by border control officials and told he was not allowed to enter the country due to his role in the establishment of 35 settlements in the northern West Bank, and for promoting the reestablishment of Jewish settlements in Gaza.

Dagan has indeed been active in supporting and promoting the establishment of settlements and illegal settlement outposts in the jurisdiction of the Samaria Regional Council, which he heads, and has advanced a program to bring a million residents to the northern West Bank by 2050.

Writing on social media Wednesday evening, Dagan said he was “proud to be, together with my brothers and sisters — the pioneers of Samaria — on the right side of history.”

The Foreign Ministry called the French decision “completely unacceptable.”

“Israel views with severity France’s decision to ban the entry of a law-abiding Israeli elected official on a blatantly political and ideological basis,” said the ministry statement. “This is a completely unacceptable step, and Israel will demand explanations for it from the French government and will accordingly consider its steps.”

Dagan has worked assiduously in recent years to expand existing settlements as much as possible, help establish and support illegal outposts such as Shuvael, and lobby the government to legalize existing illegal outposts. He has urged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to annex the West Bank, as well as to resettle Gaza in response to the “holocaust” of October 7.

Relations between France and Israel have been notably tense over the past few years, as Paris has grown increasingly critical of the Netanyahu-led government, the war against Hamas in Gaza and soaring West Bank violence.

In June, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich was also barred from entering France, which accused him of promoting the annexation of the West Bank and the “recolonization” of Gaza. A month earlier, National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was also banned from the country over his treatment of detained Gaza flotilla activists.

In June, the French foreign minister also said that four leaders of settler organizations and 21 “violent settlers” were part of the ban along with Smotrich. Paris did not name the entire list of those barred at the time, although it likely included Dagan.

Paris has also announced sanctions against several settler individuals and entities, and has also barred Israeli defense companies from attending defense and weapons exhibitions held in France.

Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.