Israel's UN ambassador attends Le Pen meeting by 'mistake'

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Ron Prosor says he arrived at a luncheon for leader of France's exreme-right party by 'accident' and left immediately; French media, however, reproted that Prosor stayed for 20 minutes and shook Le Pen's hand.

By Shlomo Shamir

Israel’s ambassador to the United Nations, Ron Prosor, said over the weekend that his attendance at a luncheon for Marine Le Pen, the leader of France’s extreme right-wing party National Front and presidential candidate, at the UN Headquarters in New York on Thursday was a "mistake".

"It was an event that I wasn't supposed to be at to begin with, and I got there by accident. When I realized my mistake, I immediately left the event,” Prosor said after the event.

Marine Le Pen is the daughter of Jean-Marie Le Pen, founder of the National Front party.

French media outlets reported widely on Prosor’s attendance at the UN event organized in Le Pen’s honor. French media noted that the Israeli ambassador shook Le Pen’s hand and remained at the event for 20 minutes. French newspapers also published a photograph of Prosor and Le Pen standing together.

Ambassador Prosor denied the contents of the French reports in a conversation with Haaretz. “After I saw Marine Le Pen there, I immediately realized that I had no place being there, and I left the room,” said Prosor.

http://www.haaretz.com/print-edition/news/israel-s-un-ambassador-attends-le-pen-meeting-by-mistake-1.393919