The French Government dented today the existence of a secret French-Israel agreement covering the supply of arms by France, declaring that an Egyptian press report of the existence of such a pact was “pure fantasy.”
In a statement by the Foreign Ministry, the French Government denied that important arms shipments had been dispatched to the Jewish State. The only deliveries made to Israel recently it said, came from contracts made more than a year ago.
“These deliveries cannot be considered as more important than deliveries by other powers to Israel.” the statement said, “nor of a nature that could alter the balance between Israel and the Arab countries who recently benefitted from substantial contracts with France” No other arms supply to Israel is contemplated in the near future, the Foreign Office stated.
Turning to press reports that France has cancelled contracts to deliver weapons to Egypt the Foreign Ministry statement said that it was true that the French Government had decided to suspend an Egyptian arms contract “following anti-French broadcasts from Cairo at the and of August during the tragic Moroccan incidents.” This does not mean, the statement continued, that there has been any cancellation on deliveries which have already begun nor does it mean that arms deliveries could not begin again.
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