Mrs. Meir Says Visit to Paris Entirely Non-political

Premier Golda Meir has made it clear that her forthcoming visit to Paris to attend a meeting of the Socialist International is entirely non-political. She said she would meet with no French officials other than those attending the meeting, would take part in no demonstrations and would not even hold a press conference. Mrs. Meir’s remarks were relayed today by Salomon Friedrich, director of the Franco-Israeli Alliance, who interviewed the Israeli Premier in Jerusalem this week. Mrs. Meir is due in Paris Jan. 12. The Socialist meeting will be held Jan. 13-14.

Her acceptance of the invitation of French Socialist leader Francois Mitterand to attend the meeting has been sharply criticized in Gaullist circles and by some sections of the French press as interference in France’s current election campaign. Mrs. Meir described her visit as “a normal gesture for someone who is a vice president of the organization,” Friedrich reported. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that French Premier Pierre Messmer has himself recently invited Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban to Paris for an official visit.