Premier Shimon Peres ended a 36-hour visit to Paris Thursday night, his last overseas trip as the leader of Israel’s government. He was given what was described as a “royal send-off” at the airport, reflecting the new warmth in Franco-Israeli relations and a nostalgic reminder of the two countries’ collaboration in the Suez Campaign 30 years ago.
Peres came here to inaugurate the Ben Gurion Centennial Year celebrations in France, which he did at a Versailles Palace celebration before his departure. But the focus of his visit was international terrorism and how to fight it. He discussed the matter with President Francois Mitterrand.
The subject dominated his 90-minute talk with Premier Jacques Chirac Wednesday night. It followed a special session of the French Parliament on terrorism at which most speakers urged France to emulate Israel’s methods of combatting terrorists. Nine people have been killed and 200 wounded in a series of terrorist bomb attacks in Paris during the past month.
Peres and Chirac also discussed bilateral relations and Middle East problems. Chirac informed Peres that he had raised the question of Soviet Jews at his meeting with Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard Shevardnadze at the United Nations in New York earlier this month. He promised to continue pressing that issue “until the Soviet Union’s gates open” for all Jews who want to leave.
Both Mitterrand and Chirac assured the Israeli leader that France would never bow to terrorist pressure and would “punish” those who plant bombs “and those who manipulate them.” They did not specify who they suspect of supporting the terrorists. Peres said Israel has reliable information linking Syria, Libya and Iran to the terrorist gangs.
At a reception for him at the National Assembly Wednesday night, Peres declared that to give in to terrorist demands “threatens not only France but the entire civilized world.”
Peres will submit his resignation to President Chaim Herzog in Jerusalem Friday morning under terms of the Labor-Likud rotation of power agreement. Likud leader Yitzhak Shamir will take office as Prime Minister on October 14, the day after Yom Kippur.
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.
