Israel offers condolences to Egypt following terror attack. Illustrative photo of Israeli PM Netanyahu and Egyptian FM Shoukry. Photo courtesy of by Haim Zach / GPO
With terrorists recruiting world-wide and attacking one major nation after another with lone-wolf and organized attacks, imagine a united global response in which all nations fighting Islamic extremist violence. That’s the vision held by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who expressed this call to action in response to last week’s horrific terror slaughter of hundreds of worshipers at an Egyptian mosque in the Sinai region.
“The radical Islam’s terror does not distinguish between religions, people or nations. I think that the obvious thing is that all the countries in the world should unite in order to fight it, everywhere, including Sinai,” said Netanyahu on Sunday in comments released by his office. He also offered his nation’s condolences to Egypt over the “vicious mass murder of civilians during prayer.”
Egypt’s Ahram Online news group reported that 305 people were killed when dozens of gunman assaulted a mosque last Friday in one of the deadliest terror attacks this century. The report said the terrorists were flying the black ISIS flag.
Following the shocking attack, an initial condolence statement by Netanyahu’s office on Saturday noted that “terrorism will be defeated even more quickly if all countries work against it together.”
Israel wasn’t the only one pushing for counterterrorism unity.
A press release from the British Prime Minister’s Office and posted to their website said UK leader Theresa May called Egyptian President Abdel Fattah el-Sisi and said that the UK “stands ready to help in any way possible.” Prime Minister May and President Sisi also agreed upon the importance of global cooperation in fighting terrorism.
United States President Donald Trump had a similar message in his call to President Sisi. A press release on the White House website said Trump “reiterated that the United States will continue to stand with Egypt in the face of terrorism” and said that the world “cannot tolerate barbaric terrorist groups and must strengthen its efforts to defeat terrorism and extremism in all its forms.”
On a softer front, the major Israeli coastal city of Tel Aviv again made a public statement of unity with Egypt following an attack, with the city hall lit up in the colors of the Egyptian flag.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai posted a photo of the expression of support to Twitter and also tweeted that “our hearts and prayers are with our friends in #Egypt. We share a destiny and determination to stand up to #terror.”
(By Joshua Spurlock, www.themideastupdate.com, November 26, 2017)