The head of an organisation representing illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank has been denied entry into France “due to his active role in implementing the settlement policy in the West Bank”.
Israel denounced the move as “completely unacceptable” on Wednesday after Yossi Dagan said French authorities turned him back last week when he flew into a Paris airport.
Dagan, who is a member of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, was “subject to an administrative ban from the territory due to his active role in implementing the settlement policy in the West Bank” according to his office.
Dagan is a prominent settler leader who has championed the renewal of settlements since the 2005 Gaza and northern West Bank disengagement plan, a move which has spurred heavy criticism by the European Union. He also holds significant influence in the Likud party and has become a key party recruiter over the years.
Under the 2005 disengagement plan, all settlements in the Gaza Strip and four settlements in the northern West Bank, near Jenin and north of Nablus, were evacuated.
The section of the Disengagement Law concerning northern Samaria was repealed at the beginning of the outgoing Netanyahu government's term, a move that immediately drew sharp criticism from the European Union.
“Settlement building is contrary to international law and undermines the two-state solution,” the French ministry said.
According to the ministry, Dagan was “pulled aside and questioned” at the airport’s passport control before being informed that he was banned from entering French territory “due to his active role in implementing the settlement policy in the West Bank.”
“Israel will demand an explanation from the French government and consider its next steps accordingly,” Israel's foreign ministry added.
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Tuesday that it would also bar French left-wing politician and 2027 presidential hopeful Jean-Luc Mélenchon from entering the occupied Palestinian territories over his call for French ships to escort aid flotillas seeking to break Israel’s blockade of Gaza amid the ongoing genocide.
Israel also barred Mathilde Panot, who leads the parliamentary group of Mélenchon's La France Insoumise (France Unbowed) party.
The statement accused the two of spreading "blood libels against Israel.”
On Saturday, Mélenchon pledged to take "direct action to come to the aid of Palestinians" in Gaza and the West Bank if elected to succeed President Emmanuel Macron next year.
Mélenchon, who founded France Unbowed in 2016, indicated that curbing Israel's assaults would be a foreign policy priority.
Alongside his pledge to end "the genocide in Gaza," he suggested deploying the French Navy to the eastern Mediterranean to accompany activists seeking to break Israel's blockade of Gaza.
"French ships will, if necessary, escort flotillas of citizens mobilizing to assert their rights," he said.
Speaking at a conference, Mélenchon also said he would work to prevent the "gradual annexation of the West Bank, southern Lebanon [and] the Golan Heights."
The entry bans followed similar measures Israel announced in September against several British left-wing politicians, including former Labour leader Jeremy Corbyn and Labour lawmakers Diane Abbott and John McDonnell. Many had campaigned to end British arms sales to Israel and impose tougher sanctions over the Gaza war.
However, none appeared to have plans to visit Israel. The bans were part of a broader Israeli retaliatory move to British sanctions.
France and Britain, along with 10 other countries, announced its intention to restrict trade with illegal settlements in the Palestinian territory in September, which spurred outrage from Israeli officials.
On Monday, a French parliamentary committee approved a bill banning the imports of settlement goods and services contributing to settlement construction, with further discussion scheduled for November 19.
Earlier this year, France banned far-right Israeli ministers, Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who are both members of Netanyahu’s cabinet and known for inciting violence against Palestinians.
Israel’s settlements in the West Bank are illegal under international law.
The EU's foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas, said that the EU should treat illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories in the same way as it treated Russia’s occupation of Crimea.
There are at least 148 illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank and 15 in occupied East Jerusalem, now home to about 750,000 Israelis, according to Israeli anti-settlement watchdog Peace Now.
Over the years, Dagan's efforts, in cooperation with Smotrich, as well as other settlers and politicians, have led to the reestablishment and resettlement of the four settlements evacuated at the time – Homesh, Sa-Nur, Ganim and Kadim.
Under the current government led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the political leadership has approved an additional 15 settlements in the northern West Bank. Many have been established and populated by groups of settlers in recent months. Together, they are tearing apart what until recently was the largest contiguous area of Palestinian life in the West Bank.
In total, the current far-right government has approved the establishment and legalization of 104 settlements across the West Bank.
