THE French President, Mr Jacques Chirac, begins a six day visit to the Middle East today amid criticism from some Israeli newspapers and reservations from some of France's European Union partners.
The Gaullist Mr Chirac is liked bin the Arab world. Arabs remember that the late Gen de Gaulle declared a military boycott of Israel after the 1967 Arab Israeli war.
France insists it is also a friend of Israel, but as noted by Le Mon de newspaper, Israel "has barely begun to admit that the friend of my enemy is not necessarily my enemy".
Even before Mr Chirac's departure, a diplomatic contretemps arose over the proposed visit by the French Foreign Minister, Mr Herve de Charette, to Orient House, the PLO's headquarters in east Jerusalem.
EU policy requires that European foreign ministers visit Orient House on all official visits to Jerusalem. But the Israeli Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu who says Palestinian institutions must not be allowed to function in Arab east Jerusalem refused to allow Mr de Charette's vis. To express his displeasure, President Chirac decided that his foreign minister would not accompany him to Israel.
The Chirac trip coincides with heightened EU diplomacy in the Middle East, following violence which resulted in the deaths of 60 Palestinians and 15 Israelis in late September.
At the request of European heads of state, the Tanaiste, Mr Spring, travelled to the region to meet Israeli, Palestinian and Egyptian leaders on October 6th and 7th. European foreign ministers are expected to draw up a mandate for a special Middle East envoy at an October 28th meeting in Luxembourg, and the Tanaiste will return to the region with the Italian and Dutch foreign ministers on or around November 10th.
The more assertive French role became obvious last April, when Mr de Charette spent two weeks shuttling between Damascus, Jerusalem and Beirut in an attempt to stop fighting between Israel and Lebanese Hizbullah guerrillas.
This week, the ceasefire committee conducted its first investigation into Israeli shelling that wounded 12 Lebanese civilians.
During his April mission, Mr de Charette was shunned by the then Israeli prime minister, Mr Shimon Peres. He displeased the US Secretary of State, Mr Warren Christopher, who was trying to negotiate his own solution.
President Chirac's spokeswoman, Mrs Catherine Colonna, said the French leader would deliver one message to all of his interlocutors. "He will remind them of the principle of land for peace," she said. "He will repeat that every country in the region has the right to sovereignty over all of its territory. He will stress that all countries in the Middle East have a right to security including Israel and he will emphasise France's support for the foundation of a Palestinian state."
Such talk is hardly likely to commend itself to Mr Netanyahu, who has sworn never to accept a Palestinian state.
