Relations between Paris and Tel Aviv have improved significantly under the new French president
French-Israeli bilateral relations have seen several ups and downs. The "golden era" was during the 1950s, when France was a strong ally of Israel, and the main supplier of arms to the Jewish state.
But, under the late president Charles de Gaulle, and in the aftermath of 1967 war, relations between the two countries deteriorated, as De Gaulle imposed an almost complete arms embargo on Israel. So the Jewish state turned to the Unites States.
However, with Nicolas Sarkozy becoming the president of France, French-Israeli ties have seen a phenomenal improvement. Sarkozy has projected himself as Israel's "friend". And the Zionist state promptly branded his election to the presidency as a "turning point" in its troubled relations with Paris.
Both Israel and the US hailed Sarkozy's presidential election victory, especially as he succeeded Jacques Chirac, under whom France was perceived as "a friend of the Arabs".
Sarkozy, who is of Hungarian-Jewish origins, has frequently asserted his deep friendship towards the US. His views are similar to those of the US President George W. Bush, who is totally pro-Israel.
In September 2006, Sarkozy openly said that he is "Israel's friend", and that Israel's security is of paramount importance. "Israel is a democracy that was born in circumstances which we all know [referring to the holocaust]".
He further said that "it is a prime responsibility of all free nations to ensure Israel's survival". But despite his professed friendship with Lebanon, Sarkozy never even alluded to Israel's crimes against the Lebanese people during its war in the summer of 2006.
As for the Palestinian-Israeli conflict, Sarkozy has often reiterated his full support to "Israel's security", though he - like many other world leaders - also waxes eloquent about "the creation of a Palestinian state in the 1967 border".
A recent example was his surprisingly positive speech during the Paris Donors Conference on December 17.
Earlier, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert visited France on October 21, to discuss one of the most important issues for the two states at the moment: Iran's nuclear programme.
Indeed, their stance on this issue is almost identical. France is, in fact, the only EU member state which has called for sanctions against Iran to force it to abandon uranium enrichment, though some of France's European partners, like Italy and Germany (which have major trade interests in Iran) have expressed their reservations about any new possible sanctions against Tehran.
In that sense, Olmert's visit to Paris opened a fresh chapter, with France replacing Britain as Israel's closer ally in Europe. This, given the fact that Gordon Brown, the British prime minister, seeks to distance himself a bit from US policies in the Middle East.
France's change of attitude towards Israel's policies has made its outlook on Arab issues similar to that of the US. Importantly, Olmert's visit to France was covered widely in the French media. The active Jewish lobby in France played its part in highlighting the visit, too.
In Paris, the dominant feeling today is that France has entered a new era, and Sarkozy won't be a Washington lackey, but rather an ally.
At the same time, and rather deceptively, Sarkozy has tried to show that French ties with Arab states too remain important. There have been some token measures, like exchange of visits and France's effort to solve the Lebanese dispute.
However, Sarkozy seems to have discerned that in this American era, Tel Aviv is the gateway to the Middle East.
He seems to have come to the conclusion that any political role in the region is bound only to US positions, and that Europe's role is now limited to providing humanitarian support. For Olmert, his visit to Paris has boosted his sagging political profile.
During this visit, Sarkozy presented Olmert (and Israel) with a precious gift: he declared the annulment of the 60-year-old UN resolution on the Palestinian refugees' right to return home. By so doing, France has basically said that Israel can disregard international resolutions.
Sarkozy said: "I don't back Israel out of personal reasons associated with my Jewish grandfather, but because it has introduced diversity and democracy to the Middle East. The creation of such a state by Jewish refugees was a miracle."
Later, Sarkozy's spokesman said: "Once Israel's security is ensured, a positive response to the Palestinians could be possible." This explicitly means that France supports Israel's policy of making no concessions to the Palestinian National Authority unless its security is guaranteed.
Toeing American line
In this sense, France under Sarkozy is toeing the American line. So de Gaulle's dream of France as a great world power is now seriously threatened.
One may recall De Gaulle's famous saying, which "enraged" Israel: "The Jews are a people with excessive pride and they love hegemony."
Dr As'ad Abdul Rahman is the Chairman of the Palestinian Encyclopedia.
