According to news report, Smotrich is struggling to arrange a meeting with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire on the sidelines of the conference but Le Maire’s office said that “a meeting between the minister and Mr. Smotrich was not scheduled.

French Finance Minister Bruno Le Maire has no intention to meet his Israeli counterpart Betzalel Smotrich at the annual meeting of Finance Ministers of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) which will take place in Paris on June 7 and 8.

According to news report, Smotrich is struggling to arrange a meeting with his French counterpart Bruno Le Maire on the sidelines of the conference but Le Maire’s office said that “a meeting between the minister and Mr. Smotrich was not scheduled.

These difficulties are seen as France’s diplomatic response, after Betsalel Smotrich’s controversial statements during a visit to Paris two months ago.

During this visit, described as private, the minister, who is the leader of the far-right Religious Zionist Party angered the Quai d’Orsay, the French foreign ministry, after having stated during a speech that the Palestinian people were an invention. “There is no such thing as a Palestinian people, and this truth must be heard at both the Elysée Palace and the White House,” he said at the time.

The French foreign ministry called the remarks “scandalous and irresponsible.”

On May 9, European Union representatives canceled the official “Europe Day” ceremony in Israel after National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir was chosen to represent the Israeli government. Ben Gvir is the leader of Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), another far right party member of the coalition led by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

“We are not interested in giving a platform to those whose positions contradict the values of the Union,” said at the tile the EU embassy in Israel.