French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot canceled his visit to the church grounds after the incident.
The French Foreign Ministry says it will invite the Israeli ambassador for an interview in the next few days. The reason for the conversation is that Israeli security forces arrived on Thursday in the area of the French-owned Eleona Church in East Jerusalem and arrested two French soldiers. However, they were soon released.
French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot canceled his visit to the church grounds after the incident.
– I will not arrive in the Eleona area today because the Israeli security forces arrived there with weapons without prior French permission and refuse to leave, Barrot said on Thursday.
– Insulting this territory given over to French control is apt to weaken the ties I came here to cherish with Israel, at a time when we all need to help the region move forward on the road to peace, he added.
The Israeli Foreign Ministry, for its part, said that the security protocol for Barrot’s visit had been cleared in advance. According to the ministry, the Israeli police had said that the French gendarmes did not show up and made the work of the Israeli security personnel difficult.
A reporter from the AFP news agency saw Israeli police officers surrounding two French soldiers who were not wearing uniforms. The police pushed another gendarme to the ground, when he presented himself, the journalist said.
France considers the sanctuary on the Mount of Olives as its own territory. The Church of Eleona and three other sites in Israel form a French national territory in the Holy Land.