World
Bataclan theatre at centre of Paris terrorist attacks may have been targeted due to its "Jewish owners"
November 14, 2015 17:16
Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered Israeli security services to assist France in the wake of the terrorist attacks on Friday night and said that “Israel stands shoulder to shoulder” with the French people.
He sent his condolences to the people of France and pledged his support.
"Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with President Francois Hollande and with the French people in the joint war against terrorism," he said.
"I offer the condolences of the people of Israel to the families of those murdered, and wish those wounded a speedy recovery."
Israel’s Foreign Ministry said on Saturday that they were in close contact with French authorities and had them to increase security around the Israeli embassy in Paris and Jewish institutions in France.
It has been suggested by French magazine Le Point that The Bataclan theatre may have been targeted’ due to its Jewish owners. The Eagles of Death rock band, playing there last night, had recently toured Israel despite calls for the boycott the country as part of the BDS movement.
This is the second major terrorist attack in France this year. In January the country witnessed the attack on the offices of French satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo, at which 12 people were killed, and the siege on the nearby Jewish supermarket in which four people were killed.
Other world leaders sent their messages of support and sympathy to France following the terror attacks which killed at least 128 people and wounded over 200.
Prime Minister David Cameron said: “I am shocked by events in Paris tonight. Our thoughts and prayers are with the French people. We will do whatever we can to help.”
President Barak Obama described it as "an attack on all of humanity and the universal values that we share."
Pope Francis said he was praying for the French people and was "deeply troubled and hurt. I don't understand, these things are difficult to understand.
German Chancellor Angela Merkel said: "We will help you lead the fight against terror, which has done something so unimaginable to you.”
Jewish community groups have also offered their support.
The Board of Deputies said: "Our thoughts and prayers go out to everyone caught up in the horrific terrorist murders perpetrated in Paris lat night."
Rabbi Laura Janner-Klausner said: "Reform Judiasm condemns the shocking attacks in Paris" and tweeted that she was "sending prayers of strength & consolation".
