October 7, 2026
Coinciding with the third anniversary of the October 7 attack, France records a high-level official presence in Israel, represented by Foreign Minister Jean-Noel Barrot and former Interior Minister Bruno Rotayo, in a visit that carries commemorative and political dimensions that focus mainly on the French victims and their families.
Today, Wednesday, the French Foreign Minister will arrive in Tel Aviv to participate in the commemoration of the victims, where he is scheduled to meet a number of bereaved families, at a time when the schedule of other official meetings has not yet been announced. Coinciding with the start of the attack at 6:29 am on October 7, 2023, Barrow published a blog post on the “X” platform in which he recalled the names of 51 French victims, confirming his presence in Israel to honor them. Barrow described the attack as “the worst anti-Semitic massacre since the Holocaust,” stressing: “We will never forget them, and nothing will erase their faces or names.”
For his part, former Interior Minister Bruno Rotayo arrived in Israel for the same occasion, and began his movements yesterday evening by meeting with a number of members of the French-speaking community. He was accompanied on this visit by Shannon Siban, National Secretary of the “Republicans” Party. The French officials’ tour is scheduled to include visiting a number of sites that witnessed the attack three years ago.
These two visits come at a time when Israel is recalling the attack that constituted a major turning point that led to the outbreak of war in the Gaza Strip, while the issue of victims and hostages and the repercussions of the conflict continue to be strongly present in the political and security scene. The French participation acquires its specificity due to the fall of dozens of French citizens as victims of the attack, which prompted Paris from day one to follow this file closely, in addition to its continued involvement in diplomatic efforts aimed at addressing the repercussions of the war regionally.
