Netanyahu at Paris victims' funeral: Time for civilized world to uproot enemies in our midst

Yoav Hattab, 21, Yohan Cohen, 20, Philippe Braham, 40 and Francois-Michel Saada, 64, laid to rest in Jerusalem after being murdered in Paris kosher market terror attack last week.

Netanyahu speaks at funeral of Paris shootings victims
Throngs of mourners joined public figures and dignitaries in Jerusalem on Tuesday for the funeral of the four Jewish victims of the terrorist siege on a kosher supermarket in eastern Paris on Friday.

The coffins of the four Jewish victims of the Paris terror attacks last week were brought to the Kiseh Rahamim Yeshiva in Bnei Brak early this morning where Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the spiritual leader of the Tunisian community in Israel and the rosh yeshiva, eulogized the men killed in the attack.One of the victims, Yoav Hattab, 21 and his family is of Tunisian origin and the Hattab family specifically requested that Mazuz be part of the funeral proceedings.The bodies of the victims Hattab, Yohan Cohen, 20, Philippe Braham, 40, Francois-Michel Saada, 64, arrived in Israel on a pre-dawn flight from France. The victims were interred on Tuesday in the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in the Givat Shaul section of the capital.Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef opened the funeral by reading from the Book of Psalms. The victims’ relatives then recited the Kaddish, lit four memorial candles and delivered personal eulogies.Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the victims were “murdered solely for being Jewish" in "an attack of hatred by a despicable murderer."The premier used the occasion to repeat his call for world leaders, particularly in the West, to take a more forceful stand against radical Islam."These aren’t just enemies of the Jews, but all of humanity," the prime minister said. "It’s about time that all of the civilized world unite and uproot these enemies from our midst."Netanyahu said that during his trip to Paris, he came away with the impression that "most leaders understand or are starting to understand that the terror of radical Islam presents a clear and present danger to the world in which we live."The prime minister praised "the spirit of the Jewish community in France," which remains "totally connected with Am Yisrael ("the nation of Israel"), Eretz Yisrael ("the land of Israel"), and Torat Yisrael ("the Torah of Israel"). Netanyahu said that while Jews must be able to live anywhere in the world in security, "I believe that Jews know deep in their hearts that they have one country – the state of Israel, the historic birthplace that will accept them with open arms. Now more than ever Israel is the real, genuine home for all of us."President Reuven Rivlin, who spoke before Netanyahu, said that the victims were murdered because they were Jewish."This was pure, venomous evil, which stirs the very worst of memories.  This is sheer hatred of Jews; abhorrent, dark and premeditated, which seeks to strike, wherever there is Jewish life," Rivlin said.Rivlin called on European leaders to act to put a stop to such acts of anti-Semitic violence."It would be dangerous to deny that we are talking about anti-Semitism, whether old or new.  Regardless of what may be the sick motives of terrorists, it is beholden upon the leaders of Europe to act, and commit to firm measures to return a sense of security and safety to the Jews of Europe; in Toulouse, in Paris, in Brussels, or in Burgas," he said."We cannot allow it to be the case, that in the year 2015, seventy years since the end of the Second World War, Jews are afraid to walk in the streets of Europe with skullcaps and tzitzit," he added.