Israel: France Should Increase Security Measures to Protect Jews

The Israeli government, expressing concern over what it calls a recurrence of "anti-Semitic" attacks on Jewish sites in France, has urged the country to enhance security measures to protect the lives and property of Jews. According to Israeli media, Benjamin Netanyahu, the Prime Minister of Israel, spoke by phone with François Hollande, the President of France, on Friday, January 9, following an armed attack on a Jewish kosher supermarket in Paris, and raised the necessity of tightening security measures for the protection of Jews in France. Reports indicate that Amedy Coulibaly, an African Arab, attacked the "Hyper Cacher" supermarket in the "Port de Vincennes" area in southeastern Paris on Friday afternoon, taking dozens of people hostage for several hours. The armed attack occurred at a time when Jews typically visit this supermarket on Fridays to purchase meat and provisions for the evening of "Shabbat" and the day of "Shabbat" (the holy Saturday). After several hours, with a special police commando assault on the supermarket, Amedy Coulibaly was killed. According to Israeli media reports, immediately after the news of the terrorist attack on the Jewish supermarket was released, Benjamin Netanyahu held a special meeting with key political and security officials in Jerusalem and was in contact with Hollande. It seems that the Israeli government was prepared to quickly send its special commandos to France if the hostage situation prolonged. Avigdor Lieberman, the Israeli Foreign Minister, also stated in an interview with Israel's Channel One television on Friday night after the hostage situation ended, that this attack demonstrates that anti-Semites do not need territorial excuses to attack Jews. According to Lieberman, anti-Semitism has no connection to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict over occupied territories. François Hollande, the President, and Manuel Valls, the Prime Minister of France, in their remarks on Friday night regarding the hostage situation in the Jewish supermarket in southeastern Paris, stated that they consider this specific attack to be a result of anti-Semitic malice and will not tolerate it. Amedy Coulibaly, before being killed, stated in a phone call at 3 PM Paris time with the French television network BFM, that he deliberately chose to attack this Jewish supermarket because he had to "kill Jews." Coulibaly had also killed a policewoman and injured another officer in a previous attack on a police vehicle in the "Mont Rouge" area in southeastern Paris on Thursday, January 8. During the afternoon of Friday, while the hostage situation was ongoing at the "Hyper Cacher" supermarket in Paris, French police advised other Jewish businesses in Paris and other parts of the country to close their shops and, if they did not have time, to lock their doors from the inside, lower the shutters, and turn off the lights. The Grand Synagogue of Paris was also closed for hours while evening prayers for Saturday were supposed to be held there. According to the Jerusalem Post, this is the first time since Hitler's regime in Europe and World War II that the Grand Synagogue of Paris has been closed. Along with increased security measures around Jewish synagogues, French police have also advised synagogue officials and other Jewish institutions to be cautious and watchful for the sudden presence of unknown individuals among worshippers in synagogues.