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'Proliferation a grave threat.' Sarkozy
Photo: Reuters
Lahav awarded French Legion of Honor
Photo: Erez Lichtfeld

Sarkozy attacks Iran for its stance on Israel

French president tells Jewish community in Paris he would refuse to greet any world leader who refused to recognize Israel

PARIS - French President Nicolas Sarkozy said on Wednesday he would refuse to greet any world leader who refused to recognize Israel -- a remark apparently ruling out any face-to-face meetings with Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

 

Sarkozy made the off-the-cuff remark in a speech to the French-Jewish community in which he reaffirmed his strong support for international sanctions against Tehran over its nuclear program.

 

"I won't shake hands with people who refuse to recognize Israel," Sarkozy declared at an annual event hosted by the Representative Council of Jewish Organizations in France (CRIF).

 

Ahmadinejad, Iran's hardline president, has in the past called for the Jewish state to be "wiped off the map".

 

France has led the way in pressing for sanctions at the UN Security Council and in the European Union to get Iran to halt atomic work which Western powers fear is aimed at making bombs.

 

'We have no other choice'

It recently urged energy companies Total and Gaz de France to refrain from investing in the OPEC country.

 

Iran says its nuclear program is a peaceful drive to generate electricity.

 

"Proliferation is a grave threat to international security. We cannot sit by and do nothing while Iran develops technologies which are in violation of international law," Sarkozy said.

 

"Given that Iran has chosen the fait accompli we do not have any other choice but to strengthen its isolation that involves new sanctions at the Security Council and the European Union," he said.

 

Sarkozy announced he would visit Israel in May to mark the 60th anniversary of Israel's founding after a March visit to Paris by Israel President Shimon Peres.

 

According to a CRIF announcement, Sarkozy added that he had requested from his Education Minister that "every year starting from the upcoming school year, children in middle and high schools read the names out loud of the 11 thousand children that perished in the Holocaust."

 

Earlier, in an event attended by Israeli Ambassador to France Daniel Shek, French Senate President Christian Poncelet and other French government representatives, Haifa Mayor Yona Yahav was granted the French Legion of Honor medal.

 

The citation was bestowed upon Yahav in appreciation of his leadership during the Second Lebanon War and his contribution to the development of cultural and economic ties between Haifa and France. After the event, Yahav said that "this is the peak of 40 years of public service. I am not receiving this medal of honor alone, (I am receiving it) alongside the 270 thousand Haifa residents I represent."

 

 

 


פרסום ראשון: 02.14.08, 11:55
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