President Chaim Herzog of Israel, on a five-day state visit to France, was left in little doubt this week where French political opinion stands with respect to the Middle East conflict.
Both President Francois Mitterrand, the Socialist chief of state, and former Premier Jacques Chirac of the Gaullist center-right made clear that they expect Israel to be more forth-coming toward the Palestinians.
Mitterrand, speaking Monday night at a banquet he gave in Herzog’s honor at the Elysee Palace, urged an international conference for Middle East peace with the participation of “all concerned parties.”
He noted that while France recognizes Israel’s security needs, it also takes cognizance that “the Palestinians are forbidden from having a country of their own.”
Chirac, who addressed a reception for Herzog Tuesday at City Hall, asked, “Can the Jewish people remain faithful to the message it gave the world if the Palestinian people is prevented from choosing its own destiny and is deprived of a country?”
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