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On Wednesday, French president Nicolas Sarkozy received the visit of the president of the World's Jewish Congress, Ronald Lauder, and of the Representative Council of French Jewish Institutions (CRIF), Richard Prasquier. The discussions concerned Iran and the situation in the Near East, the French press reports.
Ronald Lauder has expressly requested that the French president lead the efforts of the West to counter Iran's nuclear military projects.
It would be interesting to know what president Nicolas Sarkozy asked of the leaders of the global Jewish community, in exchange for his support in the relationship with Iran, and Palestine, respectively. Could it be that he greeted them with the salute they claim Romanians used: "Can I have some money?"...?
After the meeting, Richard Prasquier said that Nicolas Sarkozy once again said that he would not allow Israel to be endangered by Iran and promised to plead in favor of international sanctions against Iran.
"The sanctions being considered are intended to make it increasingly difficult to work with the Central Iranian Bank and for Iran to export oil", the president of the CRIF said.
On the other hand, the French president said that a strike against the Iranian nuclear sites could not be anything else but a last resort solution, which would have very serious consequences.
This week, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) published a report on the Iranian program, which French Foreign Affairs minister Alain Juppe said was "overwhelming".
In a press release by the High Level Group for the cooperation between France and the UK, which met on Wednesday in London, France and the United Kingdom expressed their extreme concern over the military dimensions of the Iranian nuclear program. The two partners have reaffirmed their determination to seek new and harsh sanctions if Iran refuses to cooperate and dismantle its nuclear program.
• Palestine and the UN
Ronald Lauder and Richard Prasquier have also asked Nicolas Sarkozy to renew his support of Israel and to oppose "the Palestinian unilateralism in the UN". France, just like the United Kingdom, announced it would abstain during the vote at the UN Security Council concerning the request submitted by Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas that Palestine be accepted as a full member of the UN.
The highest number of UN diplomats feel that the Palestinians will not obtain nine votes of the fifteen needed and that the United States will not use their right to veto.
Sarkozy proposed that Palestine receive an intermediate status of observer state, which goes through a vote of the General Assembly of the UN, obtained by the Palestinians, and not by the Security Council.
On October 31st, Palestine was admitted as a full-rights member of the UNESCO, the UN's cultural organization headquartered in Paris, with the support of France, a move which angered Israel and Washington.
France, which is requesting the urgent resumption of peace negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian authority, condemned Israel's decision to accelerate the program for the building of settlements in Cisiordania.
A fragment of a conversation between Nicolas Sarkozy and his American peer Barack Obama, on the occasion of the G20 summit, which was accidentally heard by reporters, revealed how annoyed the two leaders are with the current Israeli government and its Prime Minister. Thus, French president called Netanyahu a "liar", and said he couldn't stand the sight of him.
Richard Prasquier ensured that he did not speak to Nicolas Sarkozy about this incident. Still, he said, "the president assured us of his friendship for Israel and said that France would do everything to promote peace".
• Last year, Lauder criticized Obama for allowing the deterioration of the relationship with Israel
The president of the International Jewish Council, Ronald Lauder, last year criticized American president Barack Obama, in an open letter published by The Wall Street Journal and The Washington Post. Lauder said that Obama has allowed a dramatic deterioration of the relationship between the United States and Israel.
In an interview with Der Spiegel, on the subject, Lauder said: "His main concern (ed. note: Obama) should be Iran. The Tehran regime threatens Israel and the entire Western world with its plans to build a nuclear bomb. This is the reason why Obama should end his enmity with Israel".
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• Ronald Lauder is currently the most influential Jew in the world, holding the position of President of the International Jewish Congress
In 1994, Ronald Lauder through his German company (which was later succeeded by the Dutch company Central European Media - CME), together with Czech businessman Vladimir Zelezny created TV Nova, but in 1999, the partnership between the two ended, as Lauder sued both the Czech government as well as Zelezny, claiming that the government had allowed Vladimir Zelezny to avoid several legal provisions and to hire some of the stars of the TV Nova station at a new station owned by Zelezny.
Ronald Lauder asked for permission to speak to the American Congress as an individual, request which was approved. In his speech, Ronald Lauder requested that the US suspend its trade relationships with the Czech Republic, due to the ruling of the Czech courts.
In 2001, a court of the Czech Republic ordered Zelezny to pay 29 million dollars in damages to Ronald Lauder. Furthermore, Ronald Lauder filed a lawsuit against the Czech government with a court in Stockholm. In 2003, the court in question ruled that the Czech government had to pay 354.4 million dollars to Lauder.
The amount came just as TV network CME was basically bankrupt.
Ronald Lauder was an American ambassador to Austria and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for European and NATO Affairs.
Ronald Lauder served as the president of the Council of Chairmen of The American Jewish Organizations, president of the Public Committee of the World Jewish Restitution Organization and Treasurer of the World Jewish Congress.
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