By Xinhua

JERUSALEM, Oct. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will depart next week on a visit to France where he will discuss with French President Francois Hollande Iran's disputed nuclear program, according to a statement Xinhua obtained.

During the visit, Hollande is expected to urge the Israeli leader, who is reportedly contemplating military actions against Tehran's nuclear facilities, to give diplomacy and sanctions more time, and reiterate the international community's concerns over the consequences of an Israeli strike on Iran.

France is one of the six countries on nuclear talks with Iran. The P5+1, namely five permanent members of the UN security council plus Germany, have held three rounds of negotiations with Iran earlier this year.

Aside from Iran's nuclear issue, a surge in anti-Semitism in France, the long-stalled peace process between Israel and the Palestinians as well as the Palestinian Authority's bid to upgrade its status in the United Nations to that of a non-member state are also expected to come up in the meeting, The Jerusalem Post reported Tuesday.

This visit will mark the first meeting between the two leaders since Hollande took office in May.

Netanyahu is also expected to pay a visit to a Jewish school in Toulouse, where a terror attack in March claimed the lives of a teacher, two children and a bus driver.

 

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