Peres confirms Zeman visit to Israel

Israeli President Shimon Peres confirmed in talks on Monday with Czech Foreign Minister Karel Schwarzenberg, that the Czech head-of-state, Miloš Zeman, will visit the country in October. The last time Mr Zeman visited Israel was as Czech prime minister in 2002, when he raised controversy by comparing then Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat to Adolf Hitler. His statements, made in an interview for the Ha'aretz newspaper, drew condemnation both from the Arab world and Brussels. Mr Schwarzenberg is in Jerusalem to discuss the next Czech-Israeli inter-governmental meeting to take place in July, when Prime Minister Petr Nečas and his counterpart Benjamin Netanyahu, as well as some cabinet ministers, will attend.

Author: Jan Velinger