An employee of the French consulate in Jerusalem was arrested for allegedly smuggling weapons from the Gaza Strip to the West Bank, French media reported, which have been confirmed by Israel.
The consular employee was identified by Shin Bet, the Israeli national security agency, as Romain Franck, 23. He reportedly worked as a driver at the consulate, a job he managed to land through a prestigious French government-sponsored "international volunteer" program. The elite program allows recent French graduates to gain work experience in various countries around the world. Although he held a relatively marginal post at the French consulate, Franck had a diplomatic passport, which allowed him to travel across international borders without being searched, for diplomatic privileges of immunity.
But, according to the French newspaper Liberation, Franck was arrested by Shin Bet officials on February 19 this year, while he was trying to enter Israel from the Gaza Strip at the Erez crossing. He drove a car with French diplomatic plates from the French consulate in Jerusalem. Inside the car, Shin Bet officers found guns and assault rifles. According to Liberation, Franck's arrest was kept secret. The Shin Bet admitted that the paper's story was true on Tuesday afternoon. Franck reportedly told Israeli officials that he received the weapons from a Palestinian who worked at the French Cultural Center in Gaza. He then transported them on several trips to the West Bank, where other Palestinians picked them up, paid for them and sold them to others.
Israel reportedly arrested eight other people in connection with a shooting, all Palestinians. Also a Palestinian security guard at the French consulate. According to the Shin Bet, Franck is not ideologically or politically allied with Hamas, Fatah or any other Palestinian group. He only participated in arms smuggling for financial gain. A spokesman for the French embassy in Tel Aviv said Paris was closely monitoring the incident and was "in close contact with the Israeli authorities".