French Prime Minister Lionel Jospin stepped into a diplomatic spat with Israel Saturday, voicing concern over an "imbalance in the violence" and "forms of repression" in Israeli clashes with Palestinians.
"It must be understood that opinion in Europe in particular has been badly affected not just by this violence that has sprung up again but also by a certain imbalance in the violence, the forms of the repression, and I think our Israeli friends should monitor that," Jospin said.
"I believe France backs peace in this affair," Jospin added, the day after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak accused French President Jacques Chirac of encouraging "return to terrorism" by supporting Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat in peace talks.
Jospin's comments came amid a worsening diplomatic tit-for-tat between France and Israel, but he insisted that France simply wanted to "make itself heard, to express its feelings to the various parties in a balanced way."
Jospin also called on Israel to remain faithful to two former Israeli prime ministers, Yitzhak Rabin and Shimon Peres, who had been "inspirations for peace."
"Peace and confidence are the important words now. I think this must come from the two sides, but obviously, taking into account the different forces, our Israeli friends must also remain faithful to both Rabin and Peres as inspirations for peace," Jospin asserted.
Barak's complaint centered on Chirac's support for a call by Arafat for an international inquiry into the past week's violence in Israel and the Palestinian territories.
Arafat made the suggestion during meetings in Paris on Wednesday and Thursday involving Barak, Chirac and US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
"Chirac has heard some very hard things from me concerning his positions and their implications," Barak said in an interview on Israeli television late Friday.
"I said: Mr. President, if you give your support to Arafat's demand for an international inquiry, when we know it was Arafat who started the current terrorism, you would be encouraging a return to terrorism and I urge you to think twice about it," Barak told Israel's private Channel Two.
The Elyse palace quickly responded, by asserting: "Mr. Barak cannot claim that France has encouraged terrorism when he knows full well that we have not stopped working for peace."
France also called for restraint by Israel, Syria and Lebanon following reports of incidents on the Lebanese-Israeli border, according to Chirac's spokeswoman -- PARIS (AFP)
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