Israel Rebukes French Ambassador After Counterpart in Washington References ‘Apartheid State’ (AUDIO INTERVIEW)
Israel’s Foreign Ministry summoned French ambassador Helene Le Gal to protest comments made by Paris’ outgoing envoy to Washington, who in a recent interview said the Jewish state had become an “apartheid state.”
When discussing the Trump Administration’s peace plan, Gerard Araud claimed that Jerusalem would not grant Palestinians in the West Bank Israeli citizenship, so “there will be officially an apartheid state. They are, in fact, already,” he contended.
On Tuesday, Araud wrote in a tweet that he was referring strictly to Israel’s policies in the West Bank when ascribing the country the apartheid label.
In response, a spokesperson for Israel’s Foreign Ministry asserted, “you [Araud] know full well that 90 percent of West Bank Palestinians are under Palestinian Authority rule. You know that the PA refuses [to engage in] peace negotiations. Your statement was offensive and uncalled for.”
Meanwhile, senior Israeli officials have reportedly been instructed not to meet with Araud, who himself served as France’s ambassador to Israel from 2003-2006, when he visits the country in the near future.
The Media Line discussed the diplomatic row with Avi Pazner, former Israeli ambassador to Paris.
