France’s Macron loses temper with Israeli security agents
- Macron had harsh words for Israeli security forces as he visited French church in Jerusalem
- Incident echoes famous 1996 incident with then president Jacques Chirac
When French President Emmanuel Macron visited Jerusalem’s Old City, he also walked in the footsteps of one of his predecessors, Jacques Chirac, by engaging in a heated argument with Israeli security.
The altercation flared when Israeli police and domestic security agents pushed past the French detail and were first to enter the Church of Saint Anne, which is French territory under international treaties.
“Everybody knows the rules. I don’t like what you did in front of me,” an animated Macron told the Israeli personnel, speaking in English, in the crush to enter the building.
“Go out – outside please!” he added in a raised voice in scenes captured in video footage that quickly spread on social media.
The Roman Catholic church, located at the start of Via Dolorosa in the Old City’s Muslim Quarter, has been part of France’s territories in the Holy Land since the 1850s.
Macron told the Israeli officers that rules in place “for centuries … will not change with me, I can tell you, OK? So everybody, respect the rules.”