French Prime Minister Édouard Philippe has canceled a planned trip to Israel, an official at his office said on Wednesday, adding that the reason was domestic policy matters to be tended to in the coming days.
A number of sources, however, raised the possibility the cancellation was due to tense Israel-EU relations as of late, due to the violent protests on Israel's border with the Gaza Strip and in light of the U.S. withdrawal from the Iran nuclear deal.
Philippe had been planning to arrive next week to Israel and the Palestinian territories, a French diplomatic source added.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to travel to Paris to meet with French President Emmanuel Macron in the coming weeks. While in France, Netanyahu will work to restore ties with Europe and convince the leaders of EU-member states that the U.S. was right to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal.
Meyer Habib, a French MP and familiar figure in the local Jewish community, lamented the cancellation of Philippe's Israel visit.
"This could have been an opportunity to strengthen ties between the countries following France's disappointing condemnation of Israel over the situation in Gaza. In my eyes, these condemnations are unacceptable. Israel has the right to defend its citizens from the aggression of Hamas – a terrorist organization, if need be mentioned. Unfortunately, we have already been exposed to the destructive influence the conflict has in France, from calls of "death to the Jews" in Paris to the cold-blooded murder of children and adults simply because they are Jews."
