President Charles de Gaulle’s attack on Israel and the Jewish people, made in the course of his press conference Monday, continued to provoke sharply critical reactions, and the French chief of state was under fire today from all quarters.
The vehemence of Gen. de Gaulle’s diatribe against Israel, and his references to the Jewish people as a source of trouble over the centuries, stirred the French Jewish community to anger and indignation. Dr. Jacob Kaplan, Grand Rabbi of France, presided today over a meeting of the leaders of the major French Jewish organizations to consider a formal reply, in the name of French Jewry, to the statements by Gen. de Gaulle, which they considered anti-Semitic.
The French press of all shades of opinion, except the Communist, continued editorially to assail Gen. de Gaulle and to repudiate the position he had taken on Israel. The newspaper, Combat said that de Gaulle had destroyed any chance of France serving as a mediator in the Arab-Israel dispute.
A front-page editorial in Le Monde, said there was “an unpleasant smell of anti-Semitism” in Gen. de Gaulle’s remarks. The newspaper, Aurore, in an editorial, said it was “unthinkable” that a responsible French leader should be guilty of racial discrimination. It said that the French people rejected the President’s “incredible attitude.”
The International League Against Anti-Semitism issued a statement today protesting Gen, de Gaulle’s views.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
