Sa’ar Bars Mélenchon and Panot From Entering Israel

Gideon Sa’ar, Israel’s foreign minister and interior minister, has decided to bar Jean-Luc Mélenchon and Mathilde Panot from entering Israel, the Foreign Ministry announced on Thursday, November 12. Mélenchon leads the French political movement La France Insoumise, while Panot heads its parliamentary group. The ministry linked the entry restrictions to the movement’s policy toward Israel and statements by its leadership. The ministry described that policy as strongly anti-Israel and said accusations by Mélenchon and Panot bordered on blood libel. It also cited Mélenchon’s call for French military ships to escort flotillas heading to Gaza, describing those flotillas as illegal. “Israel will respond firmly to any actions that harm it,” the Foreign Ministry said in its statement. It added that Israel would not allow entry to people who act or incite against the state and its citizens.