French Leader, in Israel, Talks Tough on Iran

TEL AVIV—French President François Hollande got a hero's welcome when he arrived in Israel for a three-day visit on Sunday, as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu backed Paris's hard line against Iran's nuclear program ahead of international talks in Geneva this week.

France's last-minute torpedoing of a compromise with Iran last week has won Paris newfound admiration in the Jewish state, contrasting sharply with the public falling out between Mr. Netanyahu and Obama administration officials over the talks.

France's hard line against Iran has positioned it to act as a diplomatic megaphone for regional powers such as Israel and Saudi Arabia that rely on an alliance with the U.S. but have grown frustrated with Washington's overtures to Iran and reversal on plans to strike Syria.

Mr. Netanyahu reiterated his criticism that the U.S.-backed compromise was a "very bad deal" while hailing Mr. Hollande for his opposition to the agreement at a joint news conference Sunday evening at the prime minister's residence in Jerusalem.

"Your support and your friendship is real. It's sincere. You were one out of six," he said, referring to the six world powers participating in the talks with Iran.

Hours before Mr. Hollande's arrival, Mr. Netanyahu said Iran would top the agenda of the talks with the French president as the two try to persuade their "friend" to improve a deal with Iran—a reference to the U.S.

Mr. Netanyahu is waging a public campaign against the proposal in press interviews, in the U.S. Congress, and in meetings with international leaders like Mr. Hollande.

This week, he will hold a summit with Russian President Vladimir Putin. Secretary of State John Kerry is scheduled to arrive this week, Mr. Netanyahu said.

Mr. Hollande cast France as one of Israel's most reliable allies, vowing to maintain Paris's tough line in negotiations over Iran's nuclear program.

At the prime minister's office, Mr. Hollande laid out four demands for a deal: putting Iran's uranium-enrichment installations under international control immediately, suspension of existing uranium enrichment to 20%, reduction of Iran's existing stockpile and stopping construction of the Arak plant, which Israel and the French fear will produce plutonium and give Iran a second route toward building a bomb.

Mr. Netanyahu wants all Iranian enrichment activity stopped.

Last week, the French foreign minister stunned observers by warning members of the United Nations Security Council and Germany that they risked being drawn into a "fool's game" if they relaxed crippling economic sanctions on Iran without guarantees that Tehran will dismantle the program, which Western powers say is designed to make a nuclear weapon.

"For France, as long as we don't have certainty Iran will renounce nuclear weapons, we will maintain all our demands and the sanctions," Mr. Hollande said.

He also pledged to make sure Israel's criticism of the nuclear talks is "taken into account as France defends its [own] position."

Mr. Hollande is scheduled to visit Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank on Monday and then will return to Jerusalem for an address to the Israeli parliament, the Knesset, and a state dinner hosted by Israeli President Shimon Peres.

The French president's remarks on the Israeli-Palestinian process on Sunday were muted and devoid of any criticism of the Jewish state, a shift from previous French leaders who were known for taking Israel to task over Jewish settlements and were considered by Israelis as more sympathetic to their Arab neighbors, said an Israel Radio reporter accompanying Mr. Hollande.

France's stance in the Iran negotiations has stirred nostalgia in Israel for the 1950s and 1960s when France was the chief arms supplier of Israel's military.

Those ties soured after the 1967 Arab-Israeli war, when France imposed an arms embargo on the Jewish state.

President Hollande declared in Hebrew that "I will always stay a friend of Israel." Prime Minister Netanyahu returned the favor by praising him in French as "un vrai ami"—a true friend—of Israel.

An Israeli diplomatic official said France has been known for its tough line against Iran, but that it has become more stark amid the tensions between the U.S. and Israel over Iran. "The change is on the other side: The Americans give the impression they have stopped coordinating with us,'' the official said.

A recent poll by Israel Radio suggested that some 55% of Israeli Jews don't trust the U.S. to look out for Israeli security interests in the talks.

That has stirred media speculation on whether the old alliance with France might be revived, but a former Israeli ambassador to France said that is highly unlikely.

"We are so strongly and firmly linked to the U.S. there is no other possibility. The U.S. is the major power in the world. We share with them values and global perception," said Yehuda Lancri. "With all due respect to France—France was the only ally of Israel during the first decades of its existence—there is no substitute to the relations with the U.S.''

—Stacy Meichtry in Paris
contributed to this article.

WSJ