PM to French ambassador: First rule in fighting terror is not to be afraid

"Israelis know the anguish and pain that the French people are experiencing," says Netanyahu.

By HERB KEINON
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with French Ambassador Patrick Maisonnave, January 9 (photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu meets with French Ambassador Patrick Maisonnave, January 9
(photo credit: HAIM ZACH/GPO)
The first law in fighting terrorism is to not be afraid, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Friday, at the start of a meeting with French Ambassador Patrick Maisonnave.
“I know that there are many in France who are asking themselves, how can we fight this dreadful fear-imposing barbarism. Should we continue to publish our views? Should we express our opinions? Should we now cut back? " Netanyahu said.
“My message – in Paris, in Jerusalem, anywhere – is that the first rule in fighting terrorism is to refuse to knuckle down and knuckle under fear and pain of fear, to refuse to be afraid,” he said. Another important point, he said, “is that we have to unite to roll back this tide of fear.”
Netanyahu told the ambassador that Israel is mourning “with our French brothers and sisters” and is committed to joint action “to defeat the enemies of the democratic values ​​we all cherish.”
The Prime Minister said that Israelis, who have experienced barbaric terrorist attacks, know the anguish and pain that the French people are experiencing.
Netanyahu said that the terrorists who gunned down journalists in Paris are cut from the same cloth as those who behead aid workers in Syria, kidnap schoolgirls in Nigeria, blow up churches in Iraq, slaughter tourists in Bali, fire rockets on civilians from Gaza, and strive to build a nuclear weapon in Iran.
While the names of the different terrorist organizations may be different, they are all “driven by the same hatred and bloodthirsty fanaticism. And all of them seek to destroy our freedoms and to impose on all of us a violent, medieval tyranny,” he said.
He added that this was a global struggle that necessitates a broad offensive around the world against radical Islam.
“The terrorists have shown that they have the will to crush us, but they don't have the capacity. Now we must show that we have the will to defeat them and crush them,” he said. “This is the essence of the battle that we're fighting: Freedom against barbarism. Freedom must win, but to win, we have to stand together and fight together. This is our message to the people of France, and this is our message to all the citizens of civilized countries.”