PARIS (The Thursday Times) — France has condemned Israel’s decision to bar the left-wing leader Jean-Luc Mélenchon from entering the country, with Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot calling it a “demagogic decision”.
Israel said on Thursday that it would refuse entry to Mélenchon, who leads France Unbowed (La France Insoumise), and to Mathilde Panot, who chairs the party’s group in the National Assembly, citing what it called the party’s “extreme anti-Israel stance” and “outrageous statements” by its leaders.
“Israel will respond firmly to those who seek to harm it and will not allow individuals who act against Israel and incite against its citizens to enter the country,” Israel’s Foreign Ministry said. Israeli officials also accused the two of making “blood libel” statements against Israel.
The ban followed a speech on 7 November in which Mélenchon, a candidate in France’s presidential election in April 2027, said that if he won he would order French ships to escort flotillas taking aid to Gaza. The Israeli military has intercepted such flotillas before and detained activists on board.
Barrot, a centrist and a critic of France Unbowed, wrote on social media late on Thursday: “This demagogic decision, coming from a government that has repeatedly violated international law, plays into the hands of those who, like La France Insoumise, make a living out of exploiting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.” He added that France would “continue tirelessly to work toward a two-state solution”.
Mélenchon told French radio that he had been “banned from entering a territory I did not ask to enter”.
A week of bans
Israel’s move came a week after France refused entry to Yossi Dagan, a member of Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party who heads the Samaria Regional Council in the occupied West Bank. France’s Foreign Ministry said Dagan was barred because of “his active role in implementing Israel’s settlement policy”, which France says breaches international law.
Earlier this year, France also barred the far-right Israeli ministers Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich. It is one of several European countries that have tightened restrictions on Israeli settlers.
