Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is heading to France together with Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett, as well as MK Eli Yishai as the Knesset’s representative, to attend a unity rally in Paris today (Sunday, Jan 11).
The Israeli government leadership will join with German Chancellor Angela Merkel, British Prime Minister David Cameron, King Abdullah II of Jordan and his Queen, Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi and Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy, United Arab Emirates Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, and a million more.
Abu Mazen – the Arab terrorist name of Palestinian Authority Chairman Mahmoud Abbas — initially said he wouldn’t be able to go because of inclement weather, but has since changed his mind.
The “silent march” is being held to protest terrorism, and to honor the memory of the 17 victims murdered last week in a three-day series of attacks in Paris by radical Islamist terrorists.
Rallies are also planned in numerous cities around the globe.
French police are still hunting for Hayat Boudienne, the common law wife of one of the terrorists slain on Friday. However, it is believed she has left the country and headed to the Middle East. Turkish police have told authorities Boudienne may have passed through Turkey on her way to Syria, Fox News reported Saturday night.
Turkish Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu is also expected to participate in the solidarity rally in Paris, according to Turkey’s official Anatolia news agency.
The news follows a report last week that the exiled politiburo chief of the Hamas terror group, Khaled Mashaal, has been invited to establish a new headquarters in Turkey. Mashaal was allegedly expelled from Qatar, along with top officials of the Muslim Brotherhood terrorist organization.
The Al Qaeda affiliate in Yemen, Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), has taken responsibility for the attack Wednesday at the Charlie Hebdo satirical weekly magazine office.
The terror group released a statement over the weekend claiming the assault was launched in revenge for the “honor” of the prophet Muhammed, the founder of Islam.
The statement issued by the group’s spokesperson said the leadership of AQAP directed the operations and chose their target carefully. He added that the terror organization delayed taking responsibility for the attack because of “security reasons.”
U.S. intelligence sources said that 34-year-old Said Kouachi, one of the suspects killed on Friday, had traveled to Yemen in 2011 and made “direct contact” with Al Qaeda training camps.