Pierre Mendes-France, former French Prime Minister, who met with Tunisian President Habib Bourguiba three months ago, and is now scheduled to visit Israel, denied categorically here today that he has been asked by Mr. Bourguiba to act as a mediator between the Arabs and Israel.
The report about the alleged plan for Arab-Israeli mediation by M. Mendes-France originated yesterday in Maariv, an Israeli evening newspaper. The report had stated that the former French Premier would thus follow up Mr. Bourguiba’s recent call for direct peace talks between the Arab states and Israel, and that he would bring to Israel a message from Mr. Bourguiba to Israel’s Prime Minister Levi Eshkol. M. Mendes-France is scheduled to visit Israel next month to attend a conference on aid to underdeveloped lands, to be held at Rehovot.
Declaring that a report about his plans to act as a mediator on behalf of Mr. Bourguiba was “pure fantasy,” and stating that his forthcoming trip to Israel has no connection whatever with his recent meeting with Mr. Bourguiba, M. Mendes-France derided “any speculations in this vein.” In a statement released through the Middle East News Agency here today, he declared:
“There is absolutely no connection between my recent trip to Tunisia and my forthcoming visit to Israel. Neither am I the bearer of any message from the Tunisian Government to any Israeli leader.” (In Tunis, the Tunisian News Agency denied today that President Bourguiba had asked M. Mendes-France to act as an Arab-Israeli mediator.)
The former French Prime Minister reiterated that his only purpose in going to Israel is to attend the Rehovot conference. He emphasized that he has now broken his self-imposed rule against issuing interviews and statements” only to dispel any possible misunderstanding connected with the visit to Israel.”
Circles close to the Israeli Embassy here were also disturbed by the report concerning Mendes-France “mediation.” They pointed out that the French statesman had been invited to the Rehovot conference eight months ago, “before the slightest talk of a possible trip by him to North Africa.” The Israeli Embassy sources here characterized the report about any special mediation mission by M. Mendes-France as “grossly irresponsible.”
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