The Israel government canceled the visas for 27 French left legislators and local officials two days before a visit to Israel and the Palestinian territories on Sunday, the group said.
The action occurred only days after Israel prevented two British members of the Parliament of the ruling Labor Party from entering the country.
It also occurred as diplomatic tensions after President Emmanuel Macron said that France would soon recognize a Palestinian state. Macron in turn has tried to press Netanyahu about the conditions in Gaza in the middle of the Israel-Ahamas War.
The Interior Ministry of Israel said the visas for the 27 had been canceled under a law that allows the authorities to prohibit people who could act against the state of Israel.
Seventeen members of the group, of the environmentalist and the communist parties of France, said they had been victims of “collective punishment” by Israel and asked Macron to intervene.
They said in a statement that they had invited one leg on a five -day trip through the France Consulate in Jerusalem.
They intended to visit Israel and the Palestinian territories as part of their mission of “strengthening international cooperation and the culture of peace,” they added.
“For the first time, two days before our departure, the Israeli authorities canceled our input visas that had been approved a month ago,” they said.
“We want to understand what led to this salty decision, which resembles a collective punishment,” said the group.
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‘Major rupture’
The delegation included the deputies of the Francois Ruffin National Assembly, Alexis Corbiere and Julie Ozenne of the Ecologist Party, the communist deputy Soumya Bououaha and the communist senator Marianne Margate.
The other members were mayors of the city of left and local legislators.
The statement denounced the prohibition as an “important break in diplomatic ties.”
“Deliberately avoiding elected and parliamentary officials who travel cannot be without consequences,” said the group, demanding a meeting with Macron and the government’s action to ensure that Israel left a issue to the country.
The group said the parties had asked for the recognition of a Palestinian state for decades, which Macron said that last week could reach an international conference in June.
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The Israeli authorities arrested this month the British members of Parliament Yuan Yang and Abtisam Mohamed at Tel Aviv airport and deported them, citing the same reason. The Foreign Secretary of Great Britain, David Lammy, described the “unacceptable” action.
In February, Israel arrested two deputies of the European Left Parliament, Rima Hassan and Lynn Boylan de Ireland, Franco-Palestinian, from Ireland, from Ireland, to enter.
The Prime Minister of Israel, Benjamin Netanyahu, has furiously reacted to the possible recognition of France from a Palestinian state. He said that establishing a Palestinian state next to Israel would be a “great reward for terrorism.”
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