Key facts
- Israel's Foreign Ministry said it would bar Melenchon and Panot over the party's stance and its leaders' statements.
- The ministry said Melenchon had called for French ships to escort illegal flotillas to Gaza.
- Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot called the decision demagogic in a post on X.
- Melenchon told Franceinfo radio he was banned from a territory he did not ask to enter.
France criticized as "demagogic" Israel's decision to bar Jean-Luc Melenchon, a French hard-left presidential candidate, and Mathilde Panot, chair of the parliamentary group of his France Unbowed (La France Insoumise) party, from entering the country, Reuters reported on November 13, 2026.
Israel's Foreign Ministry said on Thursday it would bar the two over what it called "the extreme anti-Israel stance of La France Insoumise party and the outrageous statements made by its leaders." The ministry said both had made statements spreading "blood libels" against Israel and that Melenchon had called for French ships to escort illegal flotillas to Gaza.
"Israel will respond firmly to those who seek to harm it and will not allow individuals who act against Israel and incite against its citizens to enter the country," the ministry said.
Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot said on X: "This demagogic decision, coming from a government that has repeatedly violated international law, plays into the hands of those who, like La France Insoumise, thrive on exploiting the Israeli-Palestinian conflict." He said France would keep working toward a two-state solution and the peaceful coexistence of the Israeli and Palestinian peoples.
Melenchon told Franceinfo radio: "I am banned from entering a territory I did not ask to enter...I regret that the Israeli government is pursuing me like this." In a campaign speech last Saturday, he said that if elected president French vessels would accompany activists hoping to force aid into the Gaza Strip.