Former French Premier Pierre Mendes-France is due to leave tomorrow for Israel for a two-week visit at the invitation of Israeli Foreign Minister Yigal Allon. Mendes-France, one of the three French Jews who have served as French Prime Ministers, is due to meet Israeli Premier Yitzhak Rabin, Defense Minister Shimon Peres and other senior officials. He will also tour the country, including the West Bank.
Though retired from active political life. Mendes-France, who is close to the Socialist opposition, remains one of the country’s most respected statesmen. He is one of the few politicians, veterans of the pre-de Gaulle Fourth Republic, with an untarnished reputation. Mendes-France has visited Israel on about half a dozen occasions. Reminiscing, he told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency this morning that his first visit was in 1939 while he served with the French airforce in Syria.
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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.
