The Consulate General of France in Jerusalem () began its tumultuous history in the early 17th century. In 1535, the date of the first Capitulation between France and the Ottoman Empire, France was granted the right to appoint consuls in the cities of the Empire. The Capitulations constituted the legal basis of the French protectorate over the Holy Places, Catholic Christians, and by extension, Orthodox Christians. In 1623, King Louis XIII appointed the first consul in Jerusalem "for the Glory of God and to relieve the pious pilgrims who by devotion visit the Holy Places." The presence of consuls in Jerusalem was intermittent until 1843. Amidst the growing competition between European powers over the exclusive protectorate that France was entitled to exercise over Christians, the rank of the Consul in Jerusalem was raised to that of a Consul General in 1893. Despite the abolition of France's protectorate over the Latins and the Turkish-ruled Holy Places in 1914, the Consulate General tried to maintain and expand its influence in Palestine. Since the creation of the state of Israel in 1948, the Consulate General of France in Jerusalem has held the status of a quasi-embassy. The consulate is responsible for the area of the corpus separatum and the occupied territories. The consulate's districts include Jerusalem, the Gaza Strip and the West Bank. The Consulate General is independent from the Embassy of France in Tel Aviv and does not have official diplomatic relations with Israel. All contacts with the State of Israel lie exclusively within the jurisdiction of the embassy in Tel Aviv. Since its establishment in 1994, the consulate has been the French diplomatic representative to the Palestinian National Authority.
History
Ottoman era
France's special status
Following the signing in 1525 of the first capitulations by Suleiman the Magnificent and Blaise de Montluc, Ambassador of King Francis I to Constantinople, France was granted the right to protect its subjects residing or trading in the Ottoman Empire, the Christian Holy Places in the Empire, particularly those in the Holy Land, and to appoint consuls in the cities of the Empire. The capitulations constituted the legal basis of the French protectorate exercised over the Holy places, Catholic Christians, and by extension over Orthodox Christians. France was then granted a special status in the Holy Land.
After an incident involving the Franciscans and the Armenians at the Church of the Nativity in Bethlehem, King Louis XIII was called upon to restore the rights of the Latins. Louis XIII sent the French diplomat Louis Deshayes de Cormenin who achieved a certain success. It was then that King Louis XIII decided to appoint a Consul in Jerusalem "for the Glory of God and to relieve the pious pilgrims whom by devotion visit the Holy places."
In accordance with the terms of the treaty, and following a series of negotiations of the French Ambassador in Constantinople, the first consul in Jerusalem was nominated in 1621 by King Louis XIII. The first Consul-General, Jean Lempereur arrived in Jerusalem in 1623. Dror Ze'evi describes in his book the circumstances of his arrival as follows :
"Bearing a royal Ottoman decree, he proceeded to the city with an impressive entourage, and finally presented his credentials to a haughty and reserved local qadi. He was allowed to reside in the Christian neighborhood, provided he would pay at some later date a sum of money promised in the decree."
But his presence was not well received by the local authorities. Jean Lempereur was later detained and deported to Damascus. He had to pay a large ransom to be released by his captor. His successors were equally ill-received, and their presence in Jerusalem became short and sporadic. For example, Jean Lempereur was consul for four years (1621–1625), and later replaced by Sébastien de Brémond (1699–1700) and by Jean de Blacas (1713–1714).