After expulsion, defamation

Israel’s Minister for Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism, Amichai Chikli, welcomed Alice Froussard’s expulsion on the social media platform X, adding the unfounded accusation that she “supports Hamas.” According to the Israeli news site i24News, the recommendation to expel her came from the ministry’s director-general. i24News said the authorities cited several statements she had allegedly made, including describing certain Israeli laws as “draconian,” asserting that Israel operates a dual judicial system amounting to “apartheid,” and saying the 7 October massacre should be considered “in context.”

RFI issued a statement condemning “the refusal of entry imposed on journalist Alice Froussard upon her arrival in Israel,” noting that it had occurred amid “growing difficulties faced by journalists covering developments in the region.”

Political retaliation?

The decision to bar Alice Froussard from entering Israel came one day after French foreign minister Jean-Noël Barrot announced that Israeli finance minister Bezalel Smotrich was banned from visiting France for “incitement to violence” and advocating for “annexation of the West Bank.”

A subsequent statement by Amichai Chikli provided further evidence of an Israeli failure to distinguish between the French state and a French freelance reporter. After the French consulate in Jerusalem expressed its outrage on 11 June about Alice Froussard’s expulsion, the minister responded by directly addressing President Emmanuel Macron and his foreign minister, criticising France’s sanctions against Israeli officials.

Growing pressure on international media

RSF had already warned in recent weeks of growing Israeli pressure on international media, citing the entry ban imposed on Spanish journalist Queralt Castillo, as well as the revocation of the visas of French journalist Khadija Toufik and Italian journalist Alessandro Stefanelli. Such measures have compounded the existing persecution of Palestinian journalists in the West Bank, who have for years been subjected to arrests, intimidation, violence and even murder. The victims include Shireen Abu Akleh, Al Jazeera’s veteran correspondent, who was killed by an Israeli sniper while reporting on 11 May 2022.