PARIS (AP) — The French Foreign Ministry summoned Israel’s ambassador Tuesday after an incident involving Israeli security forces during a visit last week by French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot to Jerusalem.
The French ministry condemned the presence of armed Israeli police in Eléona, a French compound on the Mount of Olives, and the brief detention of two French consulate gendarmes with diplomatic status.
Barrot canceled his planned visit to the compound. France has demanded measures to prevent recurrence of such incidents.
Israeli police have portrayed the controversy as a misunderstanding, saying that two church workers who refused to identify themselves had denied entry to Israeli guards accompanying Barrot. Police said they held the men for about 20 minutes and released them after identifying them as employees of the French consulate in Jerusalem, the protector of French religious communities and four holy sites in the city.
Israeli police said all foreign ministers on official visits are assigned Israeli security officers. It said the logistics of Barrot’s visit had been worked out in advance with the French embassy in Israel.
The diplomatic rift emerged amid heightened security concerns ahead of Thursday’s France-Israel UEFA Nations League match in Paris. French authorities have announced extensive security measures to protect the event following violence against Israeli fans in Amsterdam.
