A French diplomatic source responded Tuesday afternoon to Ynet’s report on the harm caused to El Al flight security personnel in Paris, admitting it was a retaliatory measure for Israel’s practice of conducting security checks on French diplomats at Charles de Gaulle Airport.
According to the source: “For many months, members of France’s diplomatic corps in Israel and Jerusalem have been subjected to systematic checks by El Al security staff at Charles de Gaulle Airport before boarding the airline’s flights. Contacts have been opened with the Israeli Embassy in France to resolve these difficulties; in the meantime, several administrative measures related to this arrangement have been temporarily suspended. Talks are ongoing to find a solution that will meet the needs of both sides.”
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This follows Ynet’s revelation Monday night that, over the past six months, French authorities have quietly stopped renewing work visas for El Al flight security personnel stationed in Paris as Ithan employees (Israeli nationals supporting the diplomatic mission) via the Israeli Embassy. Sources familiar with the matter linked the move to tensions between Israel and France amid the war in Gaza and France's intention to recognize a Palestinian state, and even alleged anti-Israel motives by the authorities in Paris.
The work visas allowed the guards to live and work legally in France, but with renewals halted some now find themselves in the country illegally. Others have had to obtain temporary diplomatic visas through the Israeli Embassy, while some were forced to return to Israel. The guards are not considered El Al employees.
One El Al security guard in Paris said on Monday: “In the past six months, every worker whose visa expired hasn’t received a renewal. This has never happened before, and no one is getting a new permit. It seems they are trying to end the employment of El Al’s guards in France.” She added that the company’s management “is shutting out the workers” and directing them to the Foreign Ministry, and some have been unable to secure new visas.
In response to Ynet’s report, U.S. Ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee wrote on X: “Say it isn’t so, France. Say it isn’t so! What happened to France?”