Senior officials of the Israeli and French foreign ministries signed an agreement last week to co-operate in a number of fields, including trade, culture and youth dialogue.
The two countries will deepen a permanent friendship that will not be affected by politics, Hassid Barnea, spokesman for the Israeli embassy in France, said in a phone interview from Paris on Monday.
“It was a mistake to let the political situation in the Middle East …and a difference of opinion… influence our relationship,” Barnea told The Media Line.
The highlight of the accord, Barnea said, will be the establishment of a French cultural center in the heart of Tel Aviv, which will encourage an “exchange of ideas.” France also plans on converting the Eden cinema in Tel Aviv into a French movie house, he said.
The aforementioned initiatives will be funded by the French. Sponsorship for other projects will be determined as they are implemented, Barnea said.
Other ventures envisioned by the agreement’s signatories are a yearly intellectual forum, shared development projects in the third world and the strengthening of ties between Israel and France’s numerous twin cities, like Tzfat (Safed) and Lille.
Israel has recently witnessed an upsurge of French immigrants, a trend that many attribute to a rise in anti-Semitism. Moreover, France’s decision not to join the American-led war effort in Iraq soured relations with Israel and its chief ally, the United States.
The groundwork for the current agreement was initiated last year by a senior French-Israel committee, which included then-Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres.