The socialist government of French President Francois Hollande did not want Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to take part in Sunday's mass rally in Paris against terrorism, according to
Israeli media report.
Netanyahu aides denied Israeli press reports that the premier felt compelled to attend partly because two of his domestic political rivals in the March 17 Israeli elections, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett had announced their participation.
Israel Channel 2, which generally takes an anti-Netanyahu line, reported that the French had signaled his presence would be divisive.
Only after Netanyahu said he would go did Hollande call to invite him, Israeli media reported.
Relations between the Israeli and French governments have been tense. France has played a vanguard role in
backing the Palestinians at the U.N. Security Council. Hollande has been further irked by Netanyahu's recent calls for
French Jews to emigrate to Israel.
French Prime Minister Manuel Valls told Jeffrey Goldberg, another Netanyahu critic at
The Atlantic magazine that "if 100,000 Jews leave, France will no longer be France. The French Republic will be judged a failure."
Meanwhile, the owner of a targeted Paris kosher supermarket told Israel Army Radio on Monday that he plans to move to Israel.
Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky attended a ceremony at the Grand Synagogue of Paris on Sunday night along with Netanyahu and Hollande. The French president left the synagogue before Netanyahu began to speak, Israel Radio reported. Sharansky's agency would be charged with coordinating the absorption of Jewish immigrants from France.
Netanyahu said the terrorists who carried out a Nov. 18 attack on a Jerusalem synagogue that left seven worshipers and a policeman dead were motivated by the same extremist philosophy responsible for the recent Islamist attacks in Paris. On Monday, Netanyahu visited the scene of the attack at the kosher supermarket.
Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas was warmly welcomed by Hollande. His presence was criticized as deceitful not just by hawkish Israelis but by Hamas in Gaza.
Some Israeli media reports said French authorities purposefully placed Netanyahu in the second row of marching leaders and Abbas in the first tier alongside Hollande and German Chancellor Angela Merkel.
Purportedly, Netanyahu unceremoniously wiggled his way to the front row and locked arms with Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Israeli reports say.
The
Hebrew website Walla, citing Paris Match, said the Israeli premier had, in fact, all along been placed in the front row.
Israel Radio reported that the Jewish victims of the Paris attacks would be laid to rest in Jerusalem on Tuesday.
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