Israeli Ambassador Asher Ben-Natan met with French Foreign Minister Maurice Schumann at the Quai D’Orsay for more than an hour today. Informed sources said the major differences between the French and Israeli positions on the Middle East were apparent as the two diplomats conferred but that the possibility of a future meeting between M. Schumann and Israeli Foreign Minister Abba Eban reportedly was raised. Observers recalled in that connection that Schumann said during a recent foreign policy debate in the National Assembly that if Eban should visit Paris, he would be “delighted to meet him.” Present at today’s meeting were Herve Alphand, the Foreign Ministry’s secretary general and Michel Bidard, chief of the Israeli section of the French Foreign Ministry. Ambassador Ben-Natan was accompanied by Yosef Hadass, Israeli Minister Plenipotentiary. An official announcement said the bilateral problems of both countries were discussed. The meeting was considered significant inasmuch as France is the most influential member of the six member nations of the European Common Market which has shown an increasing diplomatic interest in the Middle East in recent weeks. It took place as Foreign Minister Pierre Harmel of Belgium, another of the Six, was in Jerusalem on an official visit conferring with Israel leaders.
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