Tuesday, May 08, 2007

AMERICAN FUTURE » Reversing France’s Middle East Tilt

re: "Next month marks the fortieth anniversary of the Six Day War, which changed the face of the Middle East. France, not the United States, was Israel’s primary arms supplier during the years preceding that conflict. In “The EU and the Arabs” I documented the sharp reversal in France’s Middle East policy than took place soon after the war ended. /Just three days after the shooting stopped, President de Gaulle instructed his foreign minister to denounce Israel before the French National Assembly and the UN General Assembly. A month later, he said that “[w]e told the Israelis not to start a conflict. Now, France does not recognize her conquests.” /By late 1967, de Gaulle’s attitude toward Israel had hardened to the point that anti-Semitic sentiments had found their way into his public pronouncements...[snip]...Sarkozy is likely to be more sympathetic to the Israelis than have been his predecessors. And with good reason:..."...

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