Labor Party leader Shimon Peres has cancelled a visit to Paris due to have begun yesterday, and has sent former Foreign Minister Abba Eban in his stead, to attend a meeting of the French Socialist Party. Peres’ last-minute decision was semi-officially said to be due to the political situation within Israel.
But some party sources said the cancellation followed criticism in party circles that Peres was out of the country too much and left the party leaderless at a time when crucial minute-by-minute decisions had to be taken, such as how to vote when sudden legislation came up in the Knesset. Peres was away when the Golan Heights bill was voted on.
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.