French President Francois Hollande has increased protection of the country’s Jewish schools, sending out almost 5,000 police officers since last week’s attack. This is in addition to the 10,000 troops that have been deployed to boost the country's security.
According to Roger Gukierman, president of the French Jewish communal organisation CRIF, Mr Hollande has promised to safeguard schools and synagogues, and has also stated that the army will be available for extra support if necessary.
These measures may serve as comfort to the country’s Jewish population after a terrorist took hostages at a kosher supermarket in Paris on Friday.
The bodies of the four Jews killed during the attack will be buried in Israel on Tuesday, according to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The funeral will take place at the Har Hamenuhot cemetery in Jerusalem, and will be attended by leading government figures including Mr Netanyahu, President Reuven Rivlin and opposition leader MK Isaac Herzog.
Speaking on Sunday at Paris’s Grand Synagogue following the solidarity rally, where he joined more than three million people and 60 world leaders in the French capital, Mr Netanyahu stressed the need to fight extremist Islamists.
He said: “The truth and righteousness are with us. Our common enemy is extreme Islam, not Islam, not regular extremists, but extreme Islam.”
He added: “Those who killed and massacred Jews in a synagogue recently in Israel and those who killed Jews and journalists in Paris are part of the same global terror movement.”
Meanwhile, it has emerged that President Hollande initially asked Mr Netanyahu not to attend the rally, fearing his presence would be “divisive”.
According to Haaretz, the French president worried Mr Netanyahu’s presence would clash with that of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who was also invited. However, Mr Netanyahu insisted on attending the event after learning that Israeli Minister for Foreign Affairs Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett would also be attending.
Mr Netanyahu continued his trip by visiting the site of the supermarket siege on Monday morning.
