Israeli Minister of Health Victor Shemtov said here today that French public opinion held a mistaken belief that the Middle East conflict stems from Israel’s refusal “to recognize the Palestinians.” On the contrary. Shemtov said, the Arab-Israeli conflict arises from a refusal of the Palestinians to recognize Israel and the right of Jews to a nation of their own.
The Mapam minister spoke to reporters at the end of a three-day official visit to France as the guest of the French government. He stressed that his party, which is a member of the governing Labor Alignment, “has often stated in the past, including in writing, that it favors the creation of a Palestinian-Jordan state to which it will return part of the West Bank.” Shemtov, who conferred during his visits with French Premier Jacques Chirac, said that France-Israeli relations have improved. He told the Jewish Telegraphic Agency that he did not meet with French Socialist leader Francois Mitterand during his trip because Mitterand was absent from Paris.
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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.
