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French Ambassador Gerard Araud can't seem to decide whether to serve Israel teaspoons of sugar or tablespoons of vinegar.
Two days after he broke from France's traditionally harsh public pronouncements toward Israel and told The Jerusalem Post he felt Israel "has tried to show the utmost restraint" in its recent conflict with the Palestinians, Araud did an about-face and slammed Israel for what he called its "anti-French neurosis."
In an Army Radio interview broadcast Thursday, he went on to characterize the relationship between the countries as "very difficult" and said recent polls in Israel show the public likes Saudi Arabia more than France. "You just love to hate France," he complained.
Araud criticized the media, and made special mention of a column Yair Lapid wrote in Maariv after Yasser Arafat's death in France. Lapid wrote, according to Araud, "this is proof that the French are sh**s."
"Saying the French are sh**s is totally unacceptable," said Araud.
The ambassador said that if the same thing was written about Jews in France, "you would immediately say it is anti-Semitism." For Israelis, he said, the French are "good targets."
- Herb Keinon, Jerusalem Post report.
"That shitty little country, Israel."
- Daniel Bernard, French Ambassador to Britain.
"He [Bernard] has no intention of apologising - he doesn't feel there is any need for him to do so."
- Yves Charpentier, French Embassy Spokesman.
Sources:
Keinon, Herb. "French Envoy Criticizes Israel," Jerusalem Post, December 9, 2004.
Glazov, Jamie. "Anti-Semitism: France’s National Shame." FrontPage Magazine, January 10, 2002.
"'Anti-Semitic' French Envoy Under Fire," BBC News, December 20, 2001.
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Israeli-Palestinian Conflict:
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