July 13, 2011 – Paris – An AJC leadership delegation has concluded a visit to Paris for meetings with top French officials.

Led by AJC Executive Director David Harris, the delegation met with French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe and with President Nicolas Sarkozy's chief foreign policy adviser, Jean-David Levitte.

The talks focused on efforts to restart Israeli-Palestinian peace talks; Palestinian unilateralism and the UN; developments in the Arab world since protests began in Tunisia last year; and taking stock of the Iranian nuclear threat.

“France is a key global player on each of the issues we came to discuss," said Harris. "Historically, France has long been active in North Africa and the Middle East. Moreover, its permanent seat on the UN Security Council and its leading role in the European Union underscore its importance on the world stage."

“In recent years, Franco-Israeli bilateral ties have strengthened significantly, and President Sarkozy, whom we last met in January, has often voiced his friendship for Israel," added Harris. "Moreover, Paris has been absolutely steadfast in calling attention to the Iranian nuclear threat and seeking to mobilize others to stand firm against Tehran's ambitions to acquire weapons of mass destruction."

"On the peace process, French officials reiterated their commitment to a solution based on two nation-states, Israel and Palestine, for two peoples," Harris continued. "They indicated their desire to help advance the process, but it remains to be seen if the French proposals will prove successful. We conveyed to our French interlocutors our belief that Palestinian unilateralism would prove a self-defeating strategy, resulting not in progress but in regression, and, therefore, should be rejected outright by all those truly committed to the search for a viable solution."

AJC first established an office in Paris shortly after the Second World War. Today, AJC Paris is directed by Simone Rodan-Benzaquen.

Prior to visiting France, the AJC group traveled to Jordan, Israel, Russia and Italy.

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