A Franco-Israel joint commission, which has not met since relations between the two countries deteriorated after the Six-Day War, will meet in Paris next month to begin translating into concrete results the renewed friendship engendered by French President Francois Mitterrand’s visit to Israel last week. The joint commission will be headed by the directors general of the French and Israel Foreign Ministries.
In May, Israeli Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir will pay an official visit to Paris. There are also plans for other ministers and senior officials to exchange visits.
Shamir summed up the Mitterrand visit at today’s Cabinet session, amid a profound feeling of satisfaction in Israeli government circles at the visit itself and at what it may hopefully portend in the form of improved relations with France.
Shamir and other Israeli leaders feel that the visit itself — even before any practical spin offs have evolved from it — was a major political success for Israel. Mitterrand was the first French head of state to come here. He fully intended, Shamir ventured on television last night, that his visit herald better relations between Israel and France, and between Israel and other major European powers.
SEES FRANCE, ISRAEL DRAWING CLOSER
Shamir noted in a TV interview and again in his Cabinet briefing that while Mitterrand, in his Knesset address last Thursday, spoke openly in favor of a Palestinian state, he stressed that he did not seek to impose his views nor did he support the concept of a European initiative separate from American peacemaking efforts in the region.
Israel for its part, said Shamir, believed it could draw closer to France across a wide spectrum of bilateral matters despite the political differences over the key Palestinian issue. This approach, moreover, could hopefully apply to Israel’s relations with other leading states in Europe, Shamir said.
He mentioned Israel’s hopes for improved ties with African states as one area in which French help could materialize. France still carries major weight among its former colonies in West and Central Africa. Israel is hoping that several of the countries will resume diplomatic relations with her once the Sinai withdrawal is completed.
OTHER TANGIBLE RESULTS CITED
Other tangible issues that could come before the joint commission — and later be concluded at the top policymaking level — include Israel’s economic concern over the imminent Spanish entry into the European Economic Community (the effect on Israel’s citrus exports), and Israel’s possible interest in buying a French nuclear reactor for producing electricity.
Mitterrand left Friday. Begin, who had welcomed Mitterrand Wednesday at Ben Gurion Airport, was not at the airport to say goodbye. He was confined by his doctors to remain at home after having fallen ill during a state dinner for Mitterrand Thursday night. He returned to work Friday. A statement issued by the Premier’s office said Begin was suffering from “accumulated exhaustion” caused by the “pressure of events during the past few days.” Doctors said he did not suffer from a heart attack. Begin had in the past suffered from two heart attacks and a minor stroke. He is currently recovering from a broken hip and uses a wheelchair.
ARAB MAYORS MEET WITH CHEYSSON
In other events during Mitterrand’s visit, four Arab mayors — Bassam Shaka of Nablus, Karim Khalaf of Ramallah, both of whom had been injured in bomb attacks two years ago, Elias Friel of Bethlehem and Rashad a-Shawa of Gaza — met Thursday with French Foreign Minister Claude Cheysson and handed him a five-page memorandum outlying the “plight” of the Palestinians in the administered areas.
The meeting, which took place in Jerusalem at the residence of the Consul General of France, was initiated by the French who wanted to demonstrate that even at the height of the rapprochement with Israel, they were not neglecting the Palestinian problem.
The mayors, who were joined by Dr. Abu Ghazale of Nablus, who reportedly plans to form a Palestinian-French friendship association, asked that Mitterrand intercede with Israeli authorities for the return of the mayors of Hebron and Halhoul who were deported three years ago.
The memorandum they gave Cheysson included a list of demands which called on France not to join the Camp David peace process and the multinational peacekeeping force in Sinai after Israel withdraws April 25, and also urged France to recognize the PLO as the sole representative of the Palestinian people.
Neither Cheysson nor the Arab mayors made any comments to the press after their meeting, but Cheysson reportedly told the mayors that the issue of the deported mayors had been raised with Israeli authorities. The meeting lasted less than an hour.
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