Lionel Jospin, the secretary general of the French Socialist Party, will visit Israel next month at the invitation of Israel’s Labor Party. Though Jospin has no government responsibilities, he plays a leading role in defining major policies. His predecessor as the party’s leader was Francois Mitterrand who resigned when he was elected President in May 1981. Jospin yesterday met Israeli Ambassador Ovadia Sofer who protested against France’s continued recognition of PLO chief Yasir Arafat as the leading representative of the Palestinian people and referring to him as “a moderate.”
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.