French President Valery Giscard d’Estaing will meet’ tomorrow with a nine-man delegation representing France’s Jewish community. The meeting at the Elysee Palace will be followed by a luncheon tendered by the President in honor of his guests.
The delegation which represents the French Religious Consistory led by Chief Rabbi Jacob Kaplan and the Representative Council of French Jewish Organizations (CRIF), is due to review with Giscard the problems which French Jewry faces. Elysee sources said they expect the discussion to center around internal problems such as anti-Semitism and Jewish education but that the President is ready to discuss all issues, presumably including the Middle East and Soviet Jewry.
Though the meeting was arranged before last month’s municipal elections which saw the defeat of the pro-Giscard candidates, political observers here see the meeting and the luncheon invitation as a government attempt to try and woo Jewish voters before next year’s general election.
The Elysee has prepared a strictly “kosher” meal, ordering the food at an approved Jewish catering firm and obtaining the services of a “mashgiach” to supervise the observance of dietary laws.
Next Monday, French Foreign Minister Louis de Guiringaud will meet in Paris with his Israeli counterpart Yigal Allon on his way from a Socialist International meeting in The Hague. French and Israeli sources described this planned meeting as proof of the closer consultations between the two countries. The two ministers met in Israel last month.
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