The Israeli authorities canceled visas for 27 French left-wing lawmakers and local officials just two days before they arrived in Israel for a five-day visit. The delegation comprised members of France's Ecologist and Communist parties and was invited to visit by the French consulate in Jerusalem. According to the group, their objective would be to "bring international cooperation and promote a culture of peace."

The interior ministry of Israel justified the action under the law allowing the government to deny entry to individuals considered a threat to the State of Israel. The ruling comes as diplomatic ties between Israel and France are growing brittle, especially after French President Emmanuel Macron made a statement recently declaring that France would move towards recognizing a Palestinian state, during an international conference in June.

The visa cancellations have been declared “collective punishment” by 17 group members, who called upon President Macron to intervene.

Isabelle D. G. told The Times of Israel, “For the first time, two days before our departure, the Israeli authorities canceled our entry visas that had been approved one month ago."

“We want to understand what led to this sudden decision, which resembles collective punishment," they added.

Netizens posted some of their views on Twitter. A user wrote, "The French officials, ecologists+communists support our Muslim population. Equating Muslim for Islamist is discrimination. Islamophobia is on par with racism&antisemitism. That being said,the 27 are notorious defenders of Gaza. In that context,Israel is right not to grant visas".

Another user wrote, "Thank you for canceling Douglas Murray’s argument."

The lawmakers further insisted on having a meeting with Macron, as well as on firm measures by his government to remedy, as they put it, an “important rupture in diplomatic ties.”

This incident follows previous actions taken by Israel against European officials. Just days before this incident, two British MPs of the Labour Party, that is, Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed, were barred from entering Israel due to the same law and were detained and deported from Tel Aviv’s Ben Gurion International Airport. Put in place by the aforementioned, British Foreign Secretary David Lammy slammed the action as being "unacceptable."

Israel has very recently clamped down on the issuance of visas to foreign dignitaries who pronounce their support for Palestine or criticize its policies. By leveraging its anti-BDS laws, Israel views this as a means of silencing perceived threats, but it raises the ire of European governments and threatens to further jeopardize relations with some key allies, such as France and the UK.

Prime Minister Netanyahu, meanwhile, equally stridently opposed the acknowledgement of Palestinian statehood, categorizing it as a reward for terrorism. It could further isolate Israel from other nations and make any future steps toward peace more difficult to undertake.

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