The four Jews who were murdered on Friday in a terrorist attack on a kosher supermarket in Paris may be buried in Israel, Channel 2 News reported Saturday night.
According to the report, the families of the four are seriously considering the idea of bringing their loved ones to rest in Israel.
The CRIF umbrella group of French Jewish communities earlier on Saturday evening identified the victims of the Friday’s attack as Yoav Hattab, 21, Philippe Braham, in his 40s, Yohan Cohen, 22, and Francois-Michel Saada, in his 60s.
President Reuven Rivlin spoke on Saturday evening with the leaders of CRIF, as they held an emergency meeting following the murderous attacks in France past week.
The President told them, “I speak to you tonight, not only as President of the State of Israel, but of the Jewish people as a whole”.
He continued, “We are all, here in Israel, grieving and hurting with you, we share in the sorrow of the families, the Jewish community, and of the French people. We are one family and our pain is severe. In moments such as these, we are ever aware of the responsibility we have to one another, and the deep bond that connects us as one.
“These most recent events make plain that terrorism is terrorism. It does not distinguish between blood, and it threatens indiscriminately across the world. These attacks weigh heavily on the understanding of the extent of the spread of fundamentalism. Attacks on newspapers, just as attacks on supermarkets full of innocent civilians preparing for the Sabbath, are not events that humanity can tolerate. We must not give in to terrorism in any way, shape or form, and we will overcome this threat.”
The President concluded, “Tonight, the State of Israel is by your side, just as you stand by us in difficult times. As one family, we feel pain together, as we well know – but moreover we know, that we rejoice together too – and together, tonight we will pray, for happier times, and for comfort.”
Earlier Saturday, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu led calls in Israel for French Jews to “come home to Israel”, after 17 people were killed in France during three days of Islamist attacks.
“To all the Jews of France, all the Jews of Europe, I would like to say that Israel is not just the place in whose direction you pray, the state of Israel is your home,” he said in a televised statement, referring to the Jewish practice of facing Jerusalem during prayer.
“Unless the world comes to its senses, terror will continue to strike in other places,” he added in remarks on his official Twitter account.
Media said Netanyahu had ordered a ministerial committee to convene next week to discuss ways to encourage immigration of French and other European Jews to Israel.
MK Yoel Razvozov (Yesh Atid), head of the Knesset’s Immigration, Absorption and Diaspora Affairs Committee, on Friday said he would convene an emergency session of the committee in the wake of the attack on the kosher supermarket in Paris.
Razvozov said in a statement that Israel must be prepared to absorb Jews who come from France or anywhere else in the world in the wake of the ongoing terrorism.
France led the list of countries from which Jews made aliyah to Israel in 2014, with almost 7,000 new French immigrants, more than double the 3,400 who came last year.
Even before last week’s deadly attacks, France had seen a sharp rise in anti-Semitism in recent years, and it flared particularly in 2014 and during Operation Protective Edge, with violent protests in Paris.
