One incident, somewhere between inconsequential and serious, gave the presidential visit by France's Francois Hollande the media luster it had been lacking. Until then, everything had gone according to plan. France announced that Hollande would arrive in Israel on Nov. 17 for an official state visit, and Israel announced it would gladly welcome him. Things then took an embarrassing turn.
Hollande, who was supposed to be received at the Knesset, canceled his planned speech. In response, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein announced plans for a counter-boycott and scrapping the official welcoming ceremony for the French president. The French media flew into a tizzy. At the National Assembly, representatives spoke of a crisis in ties between the two countries, pundits discussed the president’s entanglement and the heads of the Jewish community felt hurt and degraded by the French move and the Israeli response.
None of Hollande’s advisers foresaw the intensity of the crisis. They were guided by the model of US President Barack Obama when they sent the cancellation announcement to Edelstein. They were certain that an appearance at Tel Aviv University in front of hundreds of students would provide the visiting president with the prestige he is due, especially given the decline in standing of the Knesset and of politics among the general public.
The aides did not anticipate the vehement reaction of Edelstein. What he dared not do to Obama, Edelstein did to Hollande. As if it weren’t enough that he sought to prevent Hollande from visiting the Knesset, he added another blow: He announced that the French Embassy staff and other official French representatives would not be allowed to hold meetings in the Israeli legislature and that he himself would not meet with them.
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