Israel’s Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein has canceled a ceremony planned for French President Francois Hollande during his upcoming visit to Israel after the French leader called off a speech to the Israeli parliament and opted instead to speak to students at Jerusalem’s Hebrew University.
Hollande, who is due November 17-19, canceled his speech but not his visit to the Knesset where he was due to be honored in a ceremony as part of his state visit.
"Whoever disrespects the Knesset does not deserve the Knesset's respect," Edelstein wrote on his Facebook page. "International leaders cannot belittle the Knesset, the elected parliament of the State of Israel, and ignore it. As speaker of the Knesset I am determined to protect the dignity of our nation and its representatives, the MKs. I will not allow Israeli democracy to be humiliated and turned into a doormat."
The Knesset Speaker has reportedly also suspended cooperation with the French embassy until the incident is settled.
A spokeswoman for the French Embassy in Tel Aviv, Sonia Barbry, said President Hollande's itinerary is not yet finalized. She called the reaction "premature."
"There is no need to react like this. The president wants to show his attachment to Israeli democracy and its representatives and wants to go to the Knesset. We are in touch with the Knesset to find the best time for [Hollande] to come, working with the Knesset's scheduling constraints. We're working on options and trying to be accommodating," she said.
According to some sources, the reason for the cancellation of Hollande’s speech to the Knesset lies at the Quai d’Orsay, the French foreign ministry where the composition of the Israeli parliement is seen as ‘’too much complicated’’ and ‘’too much rightist.’’
Former French presidents Nicolas Sarkozy, Jacques Chirac and Francois Mitterrand addressed the Knesset plenum during their visits.
Explaining why a lack of a speech is grounds for not even meeting with Hollande, Edelstein told Israel’s Army Radio "there are 119 other Members of Knesset. If Hollande chose to speak to students, imagine how those MKs would feel if he came and met with me and we had our picture taken together."
The new French Ambassador to Israel Patrick Maisonnave will not be invited to any official Knesset ceremonies, nor will any other French dignitaries or ministers visiting Israel.
"There are plenty of events in universities. I'm sure the French officials will be too busy to find time for the Knesset," Edelstein remarked sarcastically.
As for how Hollande is different from US President Barack Obama, who also chose to address students and not the Knesset during his visit earlier this year, Edelstein said he was disappointed then too, but Obama visited Israel shortly after the government was formed and the situation in the Knesset was messier than it is now.
Former Knesset speaker MK Reuven Rivlin from the Likud Beitenu party, said that Hollande's decision not to speak in the Knesset, right after Obama did the same "is a worrying sign for Israeli democracy and expresses a lack of faith in the representatives of the people to whom he is speaking."
"The Knesset is a symbol of Israeli sovereignty and with all the respect we have for the French, avoiding speaking to the people from the Knesset's stage is wrong," Rivlin said.