(Adnkronos) – The French Foreign Ministry has announced that it has summoned the Israeli ambassador to inform him that an incident in Jerusalem, in which armed Israeli security forces entered a property administered by France, must never happen again. Two French security officials with diplomatic status were briefly detained on 7 November after French Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot was due to visit the Church of the Pater Noster complex on the Mount of Olives. The site is under the responsibility of Paris and it is not the first time that problems have arisen over the historic possessions of France in the Holy City.
The French Foreign Ministry said in a statement that the ambassador was told that the presence of armed Israeli security forces and the arrest of French officials at the scene were “unacceptable,” especially among allies with strong ties. “Measures will be taken to ensure that such acts are not repeated,” he said without providing further details. The Israeli Foreign Ministry said that every visiting foreign leader is accompanied by security personnel, a point that had been “clarified in advance with the French embassy in Israel.”
