The measure was enacted as several countries move to issue new sanctions against Israel over settler activity in the West Bank.
PARIS — France on Tuesday banned Israel’s far-right finance minister, Bezalel Smotrich, from entering the country due to his support for the West Bank annexations that threaten a two-state solution.
France’s Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot confirmed the ban in a post on X, adding Smotrich “actively promotes the annexation of the West Bank,” as well as “the creation of new colonies in the West Bank, the recolonization of Gaza.”
“It’s a policy that an overwhelming majority of the international community, firmly attached to the two-state solution, cannot accept,” said Barrot.
The ban came as France and Australia, Canada, New Zealand, Norway and the United Kingdom — all of which have now banned Smotrich from entering their respective territories — issued a joint statement announcing they would take action to target “violent settlers.”
