Yaacov Bar-Simantov, the Israeli diplomat gunned down in Paris Saturday, was buried at the Holon cemetery today. About 600 moumens attended the funeral services, among them the French Ambassador, Marc Bonnefous.
Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir, who delivered the eulogy, claimed that the murder was the work of “Palestinian terrorist organizations which dare to use the name liberation to carry out murders in various parts of the world on orders from the center of terrorism in Lebanon.”
Shamir warned: “We will use our force to crush these terrorist organizations, their leaders, their centers and their bases everywhere our long arm reaches We will hit them without mercy because we have decided to live.” He said the bullets that struck the 42-year-old Israel Embassy official in Paris were “aimed at the heart of the entire Israeli nation.”
Shamir also urged the nations that have allowed the Palestine Liberation Organization to open offices abroad “to reconsider the aid and recognition they give this murder organization and throw them out of their countries.” (Related stories P. 3.)
But so far no evidence has emerged linking Bor-Simantov’s killer, described by the diplomat’s son and other witnesses as a woman in her middle twenties wearing a white beret, to the Palestine Liberation Organization or any other terrorist group.
France’s Prime Minister Pierre Mauroy said on French television today “I have no proof this was the PLO.” Several Israeli newspapers cautioned the government today to wait for firm evidence of PLO responsibility before taking retaliatory action.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
