Israeli Premier Shimon Peres will pay a two-day visit to France on December 10 for meetings with President Francois Mitterrand, Premier Laurent Fabius and other members of the government, it was announced here today.
It will be the first official visit to France in 23 years by an incumbent Prime Minister of Israel. The last visit took place in 1961 when Premier David Ben Gurion came to Paris as the guest of President Charles deGaulle. Peres, at that time Deputy Minister of Defense and a personal aid to Ben Gurion, was a member of the official party.
No details of Peres’ forthcoming visit have been released and they are reportedly still being worked out. He is expected to be Mitterrand’s guest at a luncheon or dinner at the Elysee Palace and to meet twice with the French President and to hold a press conference. Meanwhile, rumors persist — despite official denials — that Mitterrand plans to launch a French diplomatic initiative toward the Middle East. The reason, it is said, is to mend his public image which recent polls say has been harmed by rising unemployment and the French economic crisis.
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