Israeli President Isaac Herzog met Thursday with French Senate President Gérard Lechercher. During their speech, they talked about the "Iron Swords" war and the day after the fighting.
"This is an existential war against a terrible, ISIS-like terrorist organization," Herzog said. "The attack that happened has nothing to do with the 'ordinary' dispute between us and the Palestinians. This is a worldview that came from an extreme fundamentalist view within the Islamic world, a jihadist view that does not believe in any Western and liberal worldview. The view of the perpetrators of the massacre does not recognize the existence of the Jewish people here in its land. If we weren't here, Europe would be next."
President Herzog and Gérard Lercher, today,
He added: "When you cut off the head of a teacher in France in the twenty-first century, it's clear that there is some sick school of thought that needs to be eradicated, and I'm not talking about the entire Muslim public and religion for which I have a lot of respect. We are fighting the entire war of the free world. This is our war, we didn't want it, it was forced upon us, and it was forced on us by burning our citizens, cutting off their heads, raping our wives and daughters, and kidnapping our children and elderly."
"A decisive line against anti-Semitism all over the world" - Herzog and Lercher, today, photo: Kobi Gideon / GPO
Herzog discussed the need to exert pressure to return the abductees and the issue of humanitarian aid provided to the Gaza Strip: "We can allow 300 or even 400 trucks a day to enter, tens of thousands of tons of humanitarian aid a day. Unfortunately, due to a total failure of the UN, in its work with other partners in the region, they are unable to bring in more than 125 trucks a day. This means that it is now possible to provide three times the amount of humanitarian aid to Gaza – if the UN, instead of complaining all day, did its job."
At the end of his remarks, President Herzog said: "We are with you in the same firm line against anti-Semitism in the world, including in France. This phenomenon must be eradicated and fought mercilessly. It always starts with the Jews and never ends with the Jews."
Humanitarian aid trucks entering the Gaza Strip through the Rafah crossing (archive), photo: AFP
French Senate President Gérard Larcher addressed the issue of abductees reinforced by Hamas in the Gaza Strip. "The pictures of the abductees presented here arouse our conscience. Of course, in order to free all the abductees, including the three French abductees, who have a connection to Israel, of course, but also to France."
He concluded: "We all think that what happened on October 7th is an event of extraordinary intensity, and we are all mobilized to fight anti-Semitism, that's why we marched together in the streets of Paris, that's why we were at the memorial event in Berlin in memory of the murdered Jews in Europe, and we all support the existence of the State of Israel and the Jewish people."
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