— A new controversy broke out between France and Israel over remarks made by Foreign Minister Jean Francois-Poncet to a group of Israeli journalists Monday. Receiving the journalists at Quai d’ Orsay, the minister said he thought that certain aspects of Israel’s policy were “suicidal.” The remark, reported in the Israeli press, drew an angry reaction from French Foreign Ministry officials who claimed that Poncet’s words had been distorted by the Israeli media.
A Ministry spokesman said the word “suicidal” has been taken out of context and that the Minister had spoken to the journalist off the record, meaning that he made no official comment. The spokesman stressed that France’s position on the Middle East problem is well-known and that it has been in no way modified. France, while defending the existence of Israel and its right to secure, recognized borders, has been calling for the creation of a Palestinian state.
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