France summons Israeli envoy demanding no repeat of Jerusalem incident

PARIS (Reuters) -France’s foreign ministry said it had summoned Israel’s ambassador on Tuesday to tell him that an incident in Jerusalem that saw armed Israeli security forces entering a property administered by France should never be repeated.

Two French security officials with diplomatic status were briefly detained on Nov. 7 after Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the compound of The Church of the Pater Noster on the Mount of Olives.

The site, one of four administered by France in Jerusalem, is under Paris’ responsibility and it was not the first time that problems have arisen over France’s historic holdings in the Holy City.

The French foreign ministry said in a statement the ambassador had been told the presence of armed Israeli security forces and the arrest of the French officials at the site were “unacceptable”, especially between allies with strong ties.

“Measures will be put in place to ensure that such acts do not recur,” it said without elaborating.

Israel’s foreign ministry has said that every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by its security personnel, a point that had been “clarified in advance in the preparatory dialogue with the French Embassy in Israel”.

Diplomatic relations between France and Israel have worsened since President Emmanuel Macron called for an end to the supply to Israel of offensive weapons used in Gaza.

The French government also attempted to ban Israeli weapons’ firms from exhibiting at a trade fair in Paris and has become increasingly uneasy over Israel’s conduct in the wars in Gaza and Lebanon.

The relationship will be tested again this week. Separate pro-Palestinian and pro-Israel rallies are due to be held on Wednesday in Paris, while France’s soccer team hosts Israel on Thursday amid major security concerns a week after incidents following a match in Amsterdam.

(Reporting by John Irish; Editing by Angus MacSwan)