Paris
France’s new ambassador to Israel caused a diplomatic storm this week after he reportedly described the Jewish state as “paranoid” and called Prime Minister Ariel Sharon “a lout.” The ambassador, Gerard Araud, allegedly made the comments while chatting with other French diplomats at a cocktail party in Paris, where he was overheard by an Israeli correspondent for the Tel Aviv daily Yedioth Ahronoth. When the Israeli identified himself as a reporter, Araud tried to dissuade him from printing the comments because it was a private occasion. It isn’t the first time a French diplomat has inadvertently revealed anti-Israeli sentiments in a social setting. Daniel Bernard, the former French ambassador to Britain, was overheard at a dinner party in 2001 calling Israel “that [expletive] little country.” He was forced to resign.
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