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Paris 16 April, 2010 – European Coalition for Israel was one of a handful of Israel associations that were invited to the presidential Elysée Palace in Paris on Thursday to the launching of a new project to foster better relations between Europe and Israel. French President Nicolas Sarkozy praised the initiative when he met with representatives of European Israeli friendship organizations, among them ECI as the only Pan-European initiative.
The meeting took place during a three-day state visit to Paris by Israeli President Shimon Peres who is also supporting the initiative. During their meeting the two Heads of State discussed issues of common concerns, such as the fate of the kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, who has dual French-Israeli citizenship, the Iranian nuclear threat and the prospect of a future famine in the Middle East. President Peres warned for a region where people are hungry and frustrated. He called upon the French-Israeli business community to help prevent such a scenario by investing in new agricultural technology which can help give the whole region a boost.
The Israeli President praised his French counterpart for his firm and dynamic leadership and as a true friend of Israel. Sarkozy, on his behalf, stressed that “France will always support Israel as a Jewish state.”
“- This is a pledge which we made after the Second World War and we are sticking to it,” he said to the invited guests at the presidential palace where he gave a press conference together with the Israeli president. He described the threat from Iran as “intolerable” and promised to do everything he can to stop the Iranian regime from acquiring nuclear weapons.
The meeting continued in the premises of the French Foreign Ministry where director Tomas Sandell presented the work of ECI to colleagues from Germany, Poland, France, Italy and Spain. He stressed the importance of keeping alive the remembrance of the Holocaust as well as our common heritage and history with the Jewish people and with the state of Israel. The planned events in connection with the 90th Anniversary of the signing of the San Remo resolution on 24-25 April in San Remo were also presented to the meeting.
The new initiative has been launched by Fondation France-Israel which is a joint initiative between the President of France and the President of Israel to promote closer relations between the two nations. Foundation President Nicole Guedj stated that she hopes to create a common “European-Israeli house” by strengthening the cooperation between national initiatives on a European level. The other organizations invited to the meeting consisted of similar government initiated organizations whereas ECI was the only grassroots initiative and also the only pan-European organization to be invited.
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