Word: mitterrand
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...eyes, you are a true friend, I faithful to his principles, whose word is honor." That effusive welcome, delivered by Israeli President Yitzhak Navon last week, was reserved for a very special guest: French President François Mitterrand, the first West European leader to visit the Jewish state since former West German Chancellor Willy Brandt's historic pilgrimage in 1973. Despite a few rocky moments, the trip demonstrated France's shift away from the pro-Arab policy set by President Charles de Gaulle in 1967. It was a significant example of Mitterrand's stated intention...
...Jerusalem, Mitterrand's visit came as a gesture of profound good will that was all the more meaningful in view of Israel's troublesome and deepening isolation in the world. From the moment Mitterrand's official DC-8 jet flew into Israeli airspace, where it was met and escorted to Ben-Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv by four Israeli-made Kfir-C2 jet fighters, the occasion was electric with excitement and symbolism...
...Mitterrand and his wife Danielle were driven through the Judean hills to the entrance to Jerusalem for a customary Hebrew ceremony in which they were served bread ("symbol of equality and community," the French President said), salt ("symbol of the spirit that will always prevail") and wine ("symbol of the rites that bring together the faithful"). There was an awkward but quickly forgotten moment when Mayor Teddy Kollek chided Mitterrand for refusing to visit disputed East Jerusalem, the Arab sector that Israel now claims as part of its capital. Afterward, the French President met with Begin for a talk that...
That evening, at a glittering dinner in Israel's parliament, the Knesset, Mitterrand warned his hosts that not all of his views would please them. "But you will understand," he said, standing beneath a Marc Chagall fresco depicting the Jews' return to Israel, "that a friend can only be your friend if he preserves his freedom of judgment and tells you what he thinks." The next day, in an address before the Knesset, Mitterrand spelled out publicly what he had told Begin privately: Israel must recognize the Palestinian demand for an independent state. "What I want to make...
...Mitterrand's decision to speak on behalf of the Palestinians while in Israel was altogether in character. On a state visit to Saudi Arabia last year, he was not afraid to stress France's unwavering commitment to Israel's security. In Jerusalem, he told the Knesset that it was up to the Palestinians to decide who would speak for them, but that the Palestine Liberation Organization could not hope "to sit at the negotiating table as long as it denies Israel's right to exist...