French President Francois Hollande told Benjamin Netanyahu not to come to the anti-terror solidarity rally in Paris Sunday, fearing the Israeli PM would prove to be a distraction from the central purpose of the event.

Despite being warned (along with Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas) to stay away from the event, Netanyahu decided to come anyhow, Reuters reporting that his actions at the event “ruffled a few feathers.”

Citing an inside source, Haaretz reports that Hollande’s national security adviser, Jacques Audibert, told his Israeli counterpart, Yossi Cohen, that the president did not want Netanyahu to attend in the first place:

Audibert explained that Hollande wanted the event to focus on demonstrating solidarity with France, and to avoid anything liable to divert attention to other controversial issues, like Jewish-Muslim relations or the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. Audibert said that Hollande hoped that Netanyahu would understand the difficulties his arrival might pose and would announce that he would not be attending.

The source noted that one of the French concerns - not conveyed to representatives of the Israeli government - was that Netanyahu would take advantage of the event for campaign purposes and make speeches, especially about the Jews of France. Such statements, the Elysee Palace feared, would hurt the demonstration of solidarity the French government was trying to promote as part of dealing with the terror attacks.

At first, Netanyahu reportedly agreed, but when he learned that Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett intended to join the march and meet with the French Jewish community, Netanyahu told the French he was coming after all. Hollande and Audibert were angered by the reversal and told Israel that they would now invite Abbas:

According to the source, when Cohen informed Audibert that Netanyahu would be attending the event after all, Audibert angrily told Cohen that the prime minister’s conduct would have an adverse effect on ties between the two countries as long as Hollande was president of France and Netanyahu was prime minister of Israel.

Audibert made it clear that in light of Netanyahu's intention to arrive, an invitation would also be extended to Abbas.