Israeli agents entered the French sanctuary of Eleona in Jerusalem shortly before the arrival of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and arrested two gendarmes who were standing guard. Paris summoned the ambassador: “Our territory for over 150 years, unacceptable.”
The Israeli police raided the French sanctuary of Eleona, in Jerusalem, and has arrested two gendarmes who were on guard shortly before the arrival of French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot. The episode, which occurred today, aroused the anger of Paris and triggered the immediate French reaction which summoned the Israeli ambassador for a formal protest.
“Without having been authorized to do so, Israeli security forces entered the site armed,” a French statement said, referring that “The minister did not want to visit the site under these conditions.” “These actions are unacceptable”, they say from Paris, adding: “France condemns them even more vigorously as they occur in a context in which it is doing everything it can to work towards reducing violence in the region.”
“Today I will not enter Eleona’s domain, because the Israeli security forces entered with weapons, without prior French authorization, without agreeing to leave,” Barrot said upon arriving on site and calling the situation “unacceptable.” “This violation of the integrity of a domain entrusted to France risks weakening the ties I have come to cultivate here with Israel, at a time when we all need to help the region move forward on the path to peace,” he added.
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“Eleona’s dominion not only has belonged to France for more than 150 years, but France also guarantees its security and maintains it. The integrity of the four areas for which France is responsible here in Jerusalem must be respected”, concluded Barrot.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry places the blame on the two French agents. “Every minister of a foreign country who comes on an official visit to Israel is accompanied by security on behalf of the state, and security accompanies the movements of the minister in every part of his visit,” the Israeli ministry states, adding: “The visit of Barrot was accompanied to the church by personal security provided by Israel, which was clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French embassy in Israel. During the visit, an argument broke out between Israeli security forces and two security guards Frenchmen who refused to identify themselves. The two were stopped by the police and released immediately after identifying themselves as diplomats.”
According to an AFP journalist at the scene, Israeli police surrounded the two French gendarmes before throwing one of them to the ground. According to the journalist, the gendarme identified himself and shouted “Don’t touch me” several times but he and his colleague were taken to police cars.
Source: www.fanpage.it
