While mourning the heavily losses in Paris, Israel’s leaders called on the world to band together against the mounting threat of Islamic terror.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday night called on the world to unite together against the threat of Islamic terrorism, which threatens Western civilization as a whole.
Responding to the string of Islamic terrorist attacks in Paris that claimed 129 lives and wounded hundreds, Netanyahu expressed Israel’s “deepest sympathies to the people of France and to the families of those who were brutally murdered in Paris last night. We also extend our wishes for a speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Netanyahu declared that Israel “stands shoulder-to-shoulder with France in this common battle against militant Islamic terrorism.”
In that venue, he said he has instructed Israel’s security and intelligence forces to assist their French and other European counterparts “in any way possible.”
Victims of ISIS terror lay on the pavement outside a Paris restaurant Friday. (Thibault Camus/AP)
Answering questions after making his statement, Netanyahu said that Israel had shared crucial intelligence with Europe, and alluded to pending attacks on other European cities.
“Terrorism is the deliberate and systematic targeting of civilians. It can never be justified. Terrorism must always be condemned. It must always be fought. Innocent people in Paris, like those in London, Madrid, Mumbai, Buenos Aires and Jerusalem, are the victims of militant Islamic terrorism, not its cause. As I’ve said for many years, militant Islamic terrorism attacks our societies because it wants to destroy our civilization and our values,” he stated.
He called on “the entire civilized world to unite to defeat the plague of worldwide terrorism.”
“An attack on any one of us should be seen as an attack on all of us. All terrorism must be condemned and fought equally with unwavering determination. It’s only with this moral clarity that the forces of civilization will defeat the savagery of terrorism,” he said.
Drawing a connection between the Paris attacks and the murder of Rabbi Ya’akov Litman and his son Netanel by Palestinian terrorists on Friday, Netanyahu said that “you can’t fight terrorism selectively. You can’t say these are the good terrorists and these are the bad terrorists. All terrorists are bad.” He demanded that the world condemn terror attacks in Israel just as they do in the rest of the world. “We are standing on the front line against terrorism, that is increasingly being transformed from Palestinian nationalistic terrorism to Islamic terrorism.”
Netanyahu ordered the bolstering of security at Israeli embassies, Jewish centers and other potential targets around the globe in wake of the Paris attacks.
He also said that “every Jew, whether he chooses to or not, knows that he has a home in Israel,” inviting all Jews that feel persecuted to find a place of refuge in Israel.
Israel Mourns Paris Terror Attacks
President Reuven Rivlin said that Israel was “deeply grieving” the murderous terrorist attack in the heart of Paris.
Hundreds of Israelis attend a rally at Rabin square in Tel Aviv in solidarity with Paris. The municipality is lit up with the French colors. (Miriam Alster/Flash90)
“On behalf of the citizens of Israel, I send my sincere condolences to the French people and to the families who lost their loved ones. The State of Israel stands alongside you in your uncompromising struggle against terrorism,” Rivlin stated Saturday night.
“Terrorism strikes indiscriminately, striking and killing the innocent. We, citizens of the free world, in the face of this threat, we stand united in our struggle against those who seek to kill and maim, and to use violence and destruction,” he said.
Hundreds of Israelis gathered at the Rabin Square in Tel Aviv on Saturday night to participate in a demonstration of solidarity with the French. The event, which was hosted by the French Embassy in Israel, was attended by former President Shimon Peres, Minister Silvan Shalom and French envoy to Israel Patrick Maisonnave.
The Knesset, Israel’s parliament, the walls of Jerusalem’s Old City and the Tel Aviv municipality were lit with the colors of the French flag, joining many other famous sites round the globe who did so in solidarity with France.
“Today the entire world understands what we have been experiencing in Israel and Jerusalem in recent decades- murderous terror fueled by hate and a death mission against innocent civilians in the West,” said Jerusalem’s mayor Nir Barkat. “We must unite together against all forms of terror. From Jerusalem, we send our deepest condolences to the French nation, to the families of the victims who were murdered in Paris and to the Litman family here in Israel who lost two family members yesterday, as well.”
By: Max Gelber, United with Israel