Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon will visit Paris at the invitation of French President Jacques Chirac, before the planned disengagement from Gaza.
President Jacques Chirac has invited Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon to France this summer for his first visit since he urged French Jews to emigrate to escape "the wildest anti-Semitism".
According to Israel's ambassador to France, Nissim Zvili,the visit will take place on July 27 but the date has not been officially announced.
Initially, sources within his cabinet said Sharon had accepted the invitation “in principle” but that such a visit would not be possible before the Israeli disengagement from the Gaza Strip set to begin in August.
In his letter to Sharon, Chirac said Israel’s Gaza withdrawal plan was "determined and courageous" and placed Israel "once again at a crossroads".
Pouring Oil on Fire
Under the plan, some 8,500 Israeli settlers are to be moved from all 21 settlements in Gaza and a few hundred from four of the 120 enclaves in the larger West Bank.
"More than ever, France, with its European partners wants to be by your side so that the withdrawal sets off a positive dynamic and so that Israel, like its neighbours, can finally benefit from the peace and stability that each one of them is hoping for," Chirac said.
“I would be particularly happy to welcome you to discuss with you our bilateral relations and regional questions,” he added.
 "Our bilateral relations over the last three years have taken on a new lease of life as evidenced by the number of high-level visits" 
Chirac wrote Sharon |
Relations between France and Israel deteriorated last year after Sharon’s appeal following a rise in anti-Semitic incidents in France. The Israeli Prime Minister then branded France home of the “wildest anti-Semitism” and called on French Jews to move to Israel immediately.
The was criticised even inside the French Jewish community as “pouring oil on the fire”.
Sharon’s comments led Chirac to declare the Israeli Prime Minister “not welcome” in France.
Chirac’s office signalled at the time that a long-standing invitation for Sharon to visit France was on hold until he explained the comments.
Rocky Ties
Sharon did so, and the two countries’ foreign ministers have exchanged visits, but Sharon again criticised Paris in February for balking at a US-backed proposal to declare Lebanon’s pro-Syrian Hezbollah a terrorist group.
According to well-informed sources in Paris, by inviting Sharon “a weaker French president since its defeat in the referendum on the EU constitution is trying to give the impression France would be consulted before Israel’s disengagement from Gaza.”
According to diplomatic sources, Sharon's decision to visit Paris before the disengagement from Gaza reflects his desire to reinforce the relations between the two countries. "All subjects will be discussed by Chirac and Sharon. There is a real desire of dialogue even if there will not be agreement on everything. But there is a will to listen and understand the other," Nissim Zvili told the French Jewish radio RCJ.
Israel and France have had a history of rocky ties since the 1967 Six-Day War that led France, formerly Israel’s chief arms supplier, to impose an arms embargo until the 1980s.
France is home to Western Europe’s biggest Jewish and Muslim communities, estimated at 650,000 and five million, respectively.