French minister cancels holy site visit after Israeli police arrest gendarmes
www.theguardian.com
France summons Israeli ambassador over incident at Eleona domain in Jerusalem which is under French control

France has summoned the Israeli ambassador over the incident, the latest of several controversies involving the Eleona sanctuary on the Mount of Olives, which along with three other sites make up the French national domain in the Holy Land.

The sites have been the focus of diplomatic incidents in the past. The national domain was attributed to France before Israel’s creation in 1948 and is administered as a private property by the French consulate in Jerusalem.

According to an AFP journalist who witnessed the incident, Israeli police entered the site and surrounded the two French gendarmes before pushing one of them to the ground.

The gendarme identified himself and shouted “Don’t touch me” several times, according to the journalist. Both gendarmes were then led into police cars, before being later released.

  • Ethalis@jlai.luEnglish
    76·
    17 days ago

    For those who don’t know, french gendarmes are part of the military. Those Israeli policemen just assaulted a French soldier on French soil which, you know, is usually a pretty big diplomatic no-no

      • SalehEnglish
        14·
        16 days ago

        If France pushes for full economic sanctions on Israel their economy will tank even further. The EU is Israels largest trading partner with 22% of their exports (second after US with 26%) and 31% on imports (US second with 13%).

        If the EU uses that to pressure other nations like Turkey and Azerbaidschan it gets grim. Of course the US can throw them a permanent lifeline. At some 50-100 billion $ a year of economic aid on top of the military aid. I wonder how popular an “Israel support tax” of 500$ would be with the average American.

        • TheEighthDoctor@lemmy.worldEnglish
          6·
          16 days ago

          Or you know, Washington calls Paris and says: “Yeah, what if you didn’t do that and and then I wouldn’t have to fuck you over”

          • SalehEnglish
            9·
            16 days ago

            That could happen. Last time the US started a trade war with Europe it didnt go so well for them though. And as Trump is looking at another trade war with China, and maybe also going to war with Iran all sounds a bit too ambitious at once.

  • Buffalox@lemmy.worldEnglish
    52·
    17 days ago

    For a terrorist state, this is a mild incident. But maybe it will help to show that Israel is not a lawful state. Making it easier to understand that they are not acting lawfully in many other areas.

  • cygnus@lemmy.caEnglish
    141·
    17 days ago

    This is the first I hear about this territory being claimed by France, and there’s no mention of it on the French Wikipedia page for the Mont des Oliviers. Is there any source whatsoever to corroborate that?

      • cygnus@lemmy.caEnglish
        31·
        16 days ago

        Ah, thanks! This is interesting:

        Selon Frédéric Encel, géopolitologue et spécialiste du conflit israélo-palestinien, « un policier ou un soldat en armes d’un autre pays n’a pas le droit d’y rentrer sans l’accord du consulat français »10, cependant selon Gérard Araud, ancien ambassadeur de France en Israël, ce domaine ne constitue pas, à la différence d’un consulat une « emprise diplomatique » aux termes notamment de la Convention de Vienne10.

        The quotes say that a police officer or soldier of a foreign country cannot enter without permission of the French consulate, but that the region does not constitute a diplomatic enclave.