Netanyahu tells France: “Radical Islam is an enemy to us all”
President Hollande and Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu attended a memorial service in Synagogue de la Victoire in Paris, after marching with over a million protesters in the heart of Paris.
In memory of Yoav Hattab, Yohan Cohen, Philippe Braham, Francois-Michel Saada; the four Jewish hostage victims from the Super Casher kosher deli seige, Netanyahu joined Hollande, telling France that “Radical Islam is an enemy to us all”.
“Today I walked the streets of Paris with the leaders of the world, to say enough terrorism; the time has come to fight terrorism.”
Speaking in hebrew, he said “today we bow our heads in memory of the victims, as the representatives of a proud nation we stand tall facing evil.”
“Here’s the truth: Radical Islam is an enemy to us all. Those who killed and massacred Jews in a synagogue recently in Israel and those who killed Jews and journalists in Paris are part of the same global terror movement.”
“This enemy has many names – Islamic State, Hamas, Boko Haram, al-Qaeda, al-Nusra, al-Shabaab, Hezbollah – but they’re all branches of the same poisonous tree.”
“Even though the factions of radical Islam are fighting amongst themselves, they all want to impose a dark tyranny on the world, to take humanity 1,000 years back.
“They murder anyone who disagrees with them, especially their Muslim brothers, but their greatest hatred is for Western culture that reveres freedom.”
“Those who slaughtered the Jews in the synagogue in Jerusalem and those who slaughtered Jews and journalists in Paris belong to the same murderous terror organization.”
“Israel will continue fighting terrorism. Israel will continue defending itself. And we know that when we are defending ourselves, we’re defending the entire cultural world.”
Netanyahu also paid tribute to a Muslim man, Lassana Bathily, who worked at the super cacher store, and hid a number of Jewish hostages in the cold store.
He also praised the French President’s firm stance on anti-Semitism, before he finished his address by telling French Jews, that You have every right to live in safety and in peace as citizens with equal rights anywhere you choose, including here in France. But Jews today have been blessed with another right, a right that didn’t exist for previous generations: The right to join their Jewish brothers in our historic homeland – the land of Israel.”
“Any Jew who chooses to come to Israel will be greeted with open arms and an open heart, it is not a foreign nation, and hopefully they and you will one day come to Israel,”
French authorities have outlined that they will protect Jewish schools and synagogues if necessary, in an attempt to reassure the Jewish population – Europe’s largest – that it is safe to stay in France. Seven thousand of France’s half-million Jews emigrated to Israel last year amid concerns for their safety and the economy.
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