Israeli Minister of Health Victor Shemtov said here today that French public opinion held a mistaken belief that the Middle East conflict stems from Israel’s refusal “to recognize the Palestinians.” On the contrary. Shemtov said, the Arab-Israeli conflict arises from a refusal of the Palestinians to recognize Israel and the right of Jews to a nation of their own.
The Mapam minister spoke to reporters at the end of a three-day official visit to France as the guest of the French government. He stressed that his party, which is a member of the governing Labor Alignment, “has often stated in the past, including in writing, that it favors the creation of a Palestinian-Jordan state to which it will return part of the West Bank.” Shemtov, who conferred during his visits with French Premier Jacques Chirac, said that France-Israeli relations have improved. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he did not meet with French Socialist leader Francois Mitterand during his trip because Mitterand was absent from Paris.
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.
