President de Gaulle was urged by two political parties today to adopt a realistic policy on the Middle East if he has any hope of contributing to a solution of the conflict in that region.
Valery Giscard D’Estaing, representing the “Independent” group, supporters of the Gaullist government, declared that “France cannot stay neutral but must adopt a realistic attitude in favor of Israel.” The French Radical Party, a constituent of the non-Communist Federation of the Left, issued a statement warning that “an out-dated conception of national independence blinds the French Government to the realities of our time and the means of our country, thus depriving France of any chance to contribute to peace in the Middle East.”
In an earlier statement on behalf of the French Israeli Association, its presiding officer, a former Cabinet member, M. Diemede Catroux, expressed regret over President de Gaulle’s anti-Israel, anti-Jewish statements and denounced the resumption of French arms deliveries to the Arab states.
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