Israel’s leaders and the Israeli people have shown their support and solidarity with the people of Orlando after a terror attack at a gay bar killed 50 people and injured more than 50 others.
The Orlando attack has dominated news in Israel, which has seen a wave of Palestinian attacks in recent months. On Wednesday two Palestinian gunmen killed four people in a restaurant in Tel Aviv, for example.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gave a tweet shortly after the shooting saying, “Orlando is thousands of miles from Israel, but the tragedy there has deeply saddened me. We Israelis feel your pain as if it were our own.”
Orlando is thousands of miles from Israel, but the tragedy there has deeply saddened me. We Israelis feel your pain as if it were our own.
— Benjamin Netanyahu (@netanyahu) June 12, 2016
During the opening of the government’s weekly cabinet session on Monday, Netanyahu said, “We are all shocked at the horrific massacre in Orlando. On behalf of the government and people of Israel, I would like to again express our condolences to the American people and the families at this especially difficult and tragic hour.”
“This terror threatens the entire world and it is necessary – first of all – that the enlightened countries urgently unite to fight it. We stand shoulder to shoulder with the American people.”
Israel’s President Rivlin also made a statement saying, ”Israel stands shoulder to shoulder with the United States at this moment of tragic loss. We send our heartfelt sympathies to the families of the victims and wish a full and speedy recovery to the wounded.”
Tel Aviv and Jerusalem show outpouring of support for Orlando
Israelis, who know all too well the affects that terrorist attacks can have on a community, have also been expressing their support for Orlando.
A crowd gathered in Jerusalem Sunday night to light candles and hold an impromptu vigil for the victims, one of several memorials held around the world, following the worst mass shooting in US history