At his home in Ness Ziona: Sa'ar met secretly with the French foreign minister

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met secretly at his home in Ness Ziona with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot on October 7, while Barrot was in Israel for a private visit to attend memorial events. The French emphasized they would not meet with official figures, but the meeting took place without publication or a photo.

Foreign Minister Gideon Sa'ar met secretly at his home in Ness Ziona with French Foreign Minister Jean-Noël Barrot. The meeting took place on October 7, while Barrot was in Israel for a visit officially defined as private and not political, aimed at attending memorial events for the anniversary of the massacre. The French had emphasized that Barrot would not meet with any official Israeli figure, neither the foreign minister nor the prime minister. Now it has been revealed that the two did meet in secret; the existence of the meeting was not published, nor was a photo released. Despite the diplomatic tensions between the countries, the channel between Jerusalem and Paris remained open. France tried to persuade Israel to agree to send soldiers to southern Lebanon, but Israel refused. Israel did not take steps against France such as closing the French consulate in Jerusalem, as was done with Britain.