Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann said today that before Franco-Israel relations can “improve and revert to normal” Israel must cooperate with the Four Power Mideast consultations in New York and agree to implement the United Nations Security Council’s Nov. 22, 1967 Mideast resolution. M. Schumann spoke at a Foreign Press Association luncheon in his honor. He denied that anyone “asks for an unconditional surrender by Israel of the occupied territories.” He said what the Four Powers want and what is a “must” for any settlement is “a withdrawal accompanied by guarantees of the right of all countries to existence within just and safe borders.”
Replying to a question by the Jewish Telegraphic Agency correspondent, the French Foreign Minister said the Big Four consultations were “not a substitute for a more direct form of talks between the two sides (Arabs and Israelis) but only a means to make such a step easier.” He claimed that the UN’s special Mideast peace envoy, Ambassador Gunnar V. Jarring, had informed the French Government that there was no possibility of his bringing the two sides together at the conference table “until the Big Powers themselves reach some agreement on a number of essential points.” M. Schumann, also questioned about the chances of France refunding the money Israel has paid for 50 embargoed Mirage jets, said Israel knew, “though unofficially,” that France is ready to repay the money. He conceded that the French Government has never officially informed Israel of its readiness. He said Israel must rely “on the public declaration made by President Georges Pompidou during his recent trip to the United States.
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