Premier Levi Eshkol paid his respects today to the remains of Zionist leader Vladimir Jabotinsky during a brief ceremony at the Paris Orly Airport, as the coffin of the founder of Revisionist Zionism lay in state.
The ceremony was held during a stopover of the E1 A1 plane which carried the coffins of the Zionist leader and of his wife from New York to Israel. An entire corner of the huge airport was decorated with Israeli and French flags for the occasion. At the entrance to the hangar where the coffins were placed on display, a company of the French Air Force presented arms and a French Air Force Military Police band presented a program of funeral hymns. A cantor recited the prayer for the dead.
Premier Eshkol, accompanied by Walter Eytan, Israel’s Ambassador to France, arrived at the airport shortly before the brief rites were started. He bowed low before the two coffins and then shook hands with Prof. Eri Jabotinsky, son of the Revisionist founder, and with other members of the family.
The 140-man band sounded “Salute to the Chief” as the Premier stood to review the army company at the airport. French officials attending the rites included generals, former Ministers, members of the French National Assembly and others. The plane took off at noon for Israel where the remains will be reentered on Thursday.
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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.
