French Gendarmes Arrested in Israel, Heightens Israel-France Tensions

French Gendarmes were arrested in Israel leading to heightened tensions (Flickr)

Two members of “Gendarmerie nationale” or the French Gendarmerie, a French military and law enforcement force, were arrested at the Eleona compound, a French-owned holy site in Jerusalem, by the Israeli police force on November 7, per Radio France Internationale. 

The two out-of-uniform French gendarmes, assigned to the French Embassy in Jerusalem, were visiting the Eleona compound before Israeli police entered the site and shoved one of the gendarmes to the ground. One of the gendarmes said “Don’t touch me” multiple times before being detained by Israeli police, according to Radio France Internationale (RFI). 

Israel’s Foreign Ministry said that the gendarmes failed to identify themselves in the compound, reports CNN. However, one of the French gendarmes remarked that the Israeli police should have been aware that they worked for the French consulate because of a previous conversation they had with each other, according to France24. “They know we work at the French consulate because we were arguing with each other about this place being French or not,” one of the French gendarmes said. The French officials were released after about 20 minutes under arrest, according to Israeli police, reports RFI. 

According to U.S. News, Jean-Noël Barrot, minister for Europe and Foreign Affairs of France, abandoned his plan to visit Israeli officials at the Church of the Pater Noster on November 7 following the arrest of the gendarmes. “This violation of the integrity of a site under French responsibility risks undermining the ties I had come to nurture with Israel at a time when we all need to move forward the region on the path to peace,” Barrot told CNN reporters after the arrest of French gendarmes. 

French church sites in Jerusalem have been known locations of strain between French and Israeli officials. In 2020, President Emmanuel Macron spoke aggressively toward Israeli police, who tried to accompany him to the Church of St. Anne, per Al Jazeera. In 1996, Jacques Chirac refused to enter St. Anne, when he felt physically mistreated by the Israeli police, according to RFI. 

This incident has driven bilateral tensions between France and Israel, especially as it comes months after President Emmanuel Macron officially declared an arms embargo on Israel on October 5, says BBC. Macron also called for a ceasefire in Lebanon, condemning Israel’s aerial bombing campaign in Lebanon—which has killed over 2,350 civilians and injured over 10,000 civilians. “I regret that Prime Minister Netanyahu has made another choice, has taken this responsibility, in particular, for ground operations on Lebanese soil,” Macron said on October 5 in Paris, per VOA News. 

Since the incident, France’s Foreign Ministry warned an Israeli ambassador against repeating an incident like the detainment of the two gendarmes on November 1, since it would harm French-Israel ties, reports Reuters.