President Shimon Peres on Tuesday heads for a three-day visit to Paris where he will meet with state leaders. He will raise a number of issues, including the hypocritical stance of Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad.

Just yesterday, amid repeated statements of Damascus’ yearning for peace with Israel, the nation’s deputy foreign minister lashed out at Israel, referring to Operation Cast Lead and the “massacre in Gaza” and other “acts of terrorism” perpetrated by Israel.

The Syrians also continue to accuse Israel of seeking to destroy the al-Aqsa Mosque situated on Har Habayis, as well as alleging Israel is engaged in ‘ethnic cleansing’, trying to remove all non-Jews from Jerusalem.

The president will also take part in the dedication ceremony of Ben-Gurion Promenade in the Rova Shvi’i area of the French capital. From there he will travel to Poland to take part in the state funeral for Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who perished in a plane crash with his wife and many state officials on Saturday. The late president was regarded as a staunch ally of Israel and the Jewish People.

(Yechiel Spira – YWN Israel)