Report: Israeli Government Pressured Families Of French Terror Victims To Bury Their Dead In Israel

Report: Israeli Government Pressured Families Of French Terror Victims To Bury Their Dead In Israel

At least two of the four families didn't want to bury their loved ones in Israel, but the Netanyahu government allegedly pressured them into doing so anyway and then allowed an Israeli burial society to charge them almost $13,000 each for a plot and the burial service.

Above: The four bodies layed out in front of a giant Israeli flag at the funeral

The government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pressured the families of the four Jews killed in the Islamist terror attack at the Hyper Cacher kosher supermarket to bury their dead in Israel, Ha'aretz reported. And when the families acquiesced, the site of the burials was moved three times and the families were charged large amounts for the plots and burial (about $13,000 each) – money they didn't pay. Instead, those bills will likely be paid by the government (or by the government and the French Jewish community) – but only after the families were mistreated.
Avi Zana, director of the AMI foundation, was helping the families. He said the situation was unpleasant.
"When the[y] decided on a state burial, they realized that everything was in the hands of the state and then they were asked to pay, it's very hurtful and makes no sense."
Zana also said that two of the four families had a hard time deciding whether or not to bury their loved one in Israel.
"This is not an easy decision. Muslims who were killed in the attack were buried in France, if we decide to bury in France, then it is clear that our future is in France. There were senior members of the community who were asking if the Jews of France have two states. This is a crucial question, and the families took time to decide," Zana said.
But while they were deciding, Netanyahu's government allegedly kept the pressure on those two families to bury their loved ones in Israel high.
Why?
Likely because Netanyhu, who spoke at the funeral adjacent to the four bodies lay lined up in front of a giant Israeli flag, wanted to use the occasion as campaign theater.