France posthumously presented its highest honor to the four Jews who were killed lst week in the terrorist attack against a kosher supermarket in Paris, Phillipe Barham, Yohan Cohen, Francis-Michel Saada and Yoav Hattab.
The honor was presented Tuesday by French Minister of Ecology, Sustainable Development and Energy, Segolene Royal, to the victim's family members during the funeral service in the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in Givat Shaul, Jerusalem.
Philippe Braham (40), Yoav Hattab (21), Yohan Cohen (20) and Francois-Michel Saada (64) were murdered because they were Jewish, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin said at the Har Hamenuchot cemetery as the victims of last week's shooting at a kosher market in Paris were laid to rest in Jerusalem.
“Dear families, Yoav, Yohan, Philippe, Francois-Michel, this is not how we wanted to welcome you to Israel. This is not how we wanted you to arrive in the Land of Israel, this is not how we wanted to see you come home, to the State of Israel, and to Jerusalem, its capital. We wanted you alive, we wanted for you, life. At moments such as these, I stand before you, brokenhearted, shaken and in pain, and with me stands an entire nation.”
They “were murdered on the eve of the Sabbath, in a kosher supermarket in Paris, in cold blood, because they were Jewish. The murderer made sure to be in a Jewish shop, and only then did he carry out the massacre. This was pure, venomous evil, which stirs the very worst of memories. This is sheer hatred of Jews, abhorrent, dark and premeditated, which seeks to strike, wherever there is Jewish life. In Paris, in Jerusalem, in Toulouse, and in Tel Aviv. In Brussels, and in Mumbai. In the streets, and in the synagogues. In the schools, and in the local market. In the train stations, and in the museums.”
The Israeli President urged European leaders to act to put a stop to such acts of anti-Semitic violence. "It would be dangerous to deny that we are talking about anti-Semitism, whether old or new. Regardless of what may be the sick motives of terrorists, it is beholden upon the leaders of Europe to act, and commit to firm measures to return a sense of security and safety to the Jews of Europe; in Toulouse, in Paris, in Brussels, or in Burgas," he said.
"We cannot allow it to be the case, that in the year 2015, seventy years since the end of the Second World War, Jews are afraid to walk in the streets of Europe with skullcaps and tzitzit," he added.
Throngs of mourners joined public figures and dignitaries for the funeral. The four coffins were brought to the Kiseh Rahamim Yeshiva in Bnei Brak early Tuesday morning where Rabbi Meir Mazuz, the spiritual leader of the Tunisian community in Israel, eulogized the men killed in the attack.
One of the victims, Yoav Hattab, 21 and his family is of Tunisian origin and the Hattab family specifically requested that Mazuz be part of the funeral proceedings.
The bodies of the victims arrived in Israel on a pre-dawn El Al flight from Paris.
The victims were interred on Tuesday in the Har Hamenuchot cemetery in the Givat Shaul section of the capital.
Sephardi Chief Rabbi Yitzhak Yosef opened the funeral by reading from the Book of Psalms. The victims’ relatives then recited the Kaddish, lit four memorial candles and delivered personal eulogies.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the victims were “murdered solely for being Jewish" in "an attack of hatred by a despicable murderer."
The premier used the occasion to repeat his call for world leaders, particularly in the West, to take a more forceful stand against radical Islam.
"These aren’t just enemies of the Jews, but all of humanity," the Prime Minister said. "It’s about time that all of the civilized world unite and uproot these enemies from our midst."
Netanyahu said that during his trip to Paris, he came away with the impression that "most leaders understand or are starting to understand that the terror of extremist Islam presents a clear and present danger to the world in which we live."
He also praised "the spirit of the Jewish community in France," which remains "totally connected with Am Yisrael ("the nation of Israel"), Eretz Yisrael ("the land of Israel"), and Torat Yisrael ("the Torah of Israel").
Netanyahu said that while Jews must be able to live anywhere in the world in security, "I believe that Jews know deep in their hearts that they have one country – the state of Israel, the historic birthplace that will accept them with open arms. Now more than ever Israel is the real, genuine home for all of us."