Jerusalem : The bodies of four Jewish victims of a Paris terror attack on a kosher supermarket arrived in Israel on Tuesday ahead of a funeral to be attended by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and other public figures.
The killings of Yohan Cohen, Yoav Hattab, Francois-Michel Saada and Phillipe Braham shocked France's 500,000 strong Jewish community—the largest in Europe—and prompted calls from Netanyahu for Jews throughout the continent to immigrate to Israel to insure their safety amid a rising wave of anti-Semitism.
The four were killed in a tense hostage standoff on Friday at a kosher supermarket on the eastern edge of Paris. They were among 17 people who died in a wave of terror attacks carried out last week by militants claiming allegiance to al-Qaida and the Islamic State extremist groups.
In a statement issued Sunday from Paris, Netanyahu said he had “acceded to the request of the families of the victims of the murderous terror attack” and directed “all the relevant government bodies” to assist in bringing the bodies to Israel.
Last year, France topped the immigration list to Israel, according to the Jewish Agency, a nonprofit group that works closely with the government and acts as a link between Jews around the world. Nearly 7,000 new immigrants came in 2014, double the number from the previous year.
