The country’s top leaders denounced Sunday the atrocity in Istanbul as the height of anti-Semitic terrorism and warned that Israel will not rest until it crushes the evil of terrorism against the Jewish people everywhere.
Prime Minister Shimon Peres said: “No event has shown so starkly the bestial nature of this terrorism than what we saw this (Saturday) morning in a synagogue in Istanbul. Innocent people, old people were murdered in cold blood in the midst of their prayers — they were shot, then set afire, without any respect for human life, for worship, for a synagogue.
“There is still a world that thinks that madmen can be allowed to operate, move about and commit murder in it. From our point of view, we shall first of all, of course, pray for the souls of the innocent worshippers: the entire Jewish people is today bound in one great prayer. We shall send condolences to the families.
“But we are also a State, and we not only pray. We will not rest until we lop off this murderous arm such as we have not known since the Nazis. We will pursue them everywhere, and we will get to them. At this stage, the government of Turkey has to work in order to determine whether any of the terrorists still remain, to bring them to trial, and to judge them with full gravity.”
“This attack has no political significance. These are wild animals, and we need not look for meanings or diversities or political nuances — that is absurd. Today the nation is united against murder, against such a pogrom, and this is what is on our national agenda.”
NEED FOR AN INTERNATIONAL STRUGGLE
Deputy Premier and Foreign Minister Yitzhak Shamir said: “It seems to me that the heart of every Jew in Israel and in the world is today bleeding. What happened in the Neve Shalom Synagogue in Istanbul is the height of the bestial cruelty and the profound hate of the anti-Jewish and anti-Israeli terrorism.
“The Jewish blood that was spilled in the synagogue in the Istanbul diaspora obligates the Jewish State to step up and intensify its war of initiative against the terrorist organizations, in every place and at all times.
“It is essential to take all measures in order to prevent the men of blood from persisting in the perpetration of their crimes. And after what happened in Karachi as well, the need for an international struggle against international terrorism becomes more urgent with every passing day.
“Israel must demand that other countries enlist themselves, with all the strength required, in this struggle in order to extirpate the affliction that is endangering all of humanity.”
UNITED FRONT AGAINST TERRORISM URGED
President Chaim Herzog said: “The State of Israel and the entire Jewish people grieve and mourn for the victims of the murderous attack on worshippers in a synagogue in Istanbul. This is the height of the anti-Semitic terrorism — the ally of international terrorism — which balks at nothing and whose aim is nothing but the murder of Jews because they are Jews.
“This is yet another tragic demonstration of the base, inhuman image of the enemies of the Jewish people who are also the enemies of humanity. The State of Israel will not rest until it crushes the evil of anti-Semitism and of terrorism. It calls on all peoples and on all civilized persons throughout the world to stand with it in its struggle.”
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