* Politically corrrect Hollande asked Netanyahu to not come to Paris, yet he invited terrorist Palestinian terrorist Mahmoud Abbas to attend

* Netanyahu was placed in the second row of the march so that he would not be seen, instead of up front with other world leaders. He forced his way to the front to demonstrate Israel’s solidarity with the anti-terror campaign

BY TIMES OF ISRAEL STAFF AND AFP

French President Francois Hollande (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for photographers at the Elysee Palace, Paris, January 11, 2015. (photo credit: AP/Thibault Camus)French President Francois Hollande (right) and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pose for photographers at the Elysee Palace, Paris, January 11, 2015. (photo credit: AP/Thibault Camus) NEWSROOM
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French President Francois Hollande did not want Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to attend Sunday’s historic march in Paris, believing the Israeli leader’s presence at the rally would be “divisive,” Israeli media reported Sunday.

Netanyahu initially accepted Paris’s wishes and on Saturday cited security concerns to explain why he would not attend the event, which was organized in a show of solidarity and defiance after terrorist attacks in the French capital, which claimed 17 lives. Among the victims were four Jews at a kosher supermarket and a Muslim police officer.

However, the Prime Minister changed his mind later Saturday after Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman and Economy Minister Naftali Bennett announced they would join the march, Israel’s Channel 2 news reported.

When Netanyahu’s office told the Elysee Palace that he would be coming after all, France responded by highlighting that it was extending an invitation to Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, according to the report. The French government also announced a planned meeting between Hollande and Abbas Saturday night.

The Israeli Prime Minister’s Office did not respond to a request for comment on the report.

On Sunday, Hollande and world leaders, including Netanyahu and Abbas, marched in the mammoth procession, which began near where gunmen killed 12 people at satirical magazine Charlie Hebdo last week.

Netanyahu was initially situated in a second row of leaders, but shimmied his way into the front row, alongside Malian President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita, Hollande, German Chancellor Angela Merkel, EU Council President Donald Tusk and Abbas.

Some 1.5 million people marched in the massive rally, the largest of a series of demonstrations around France that brought some 3.7 million people out into the streets, according to figures cited by AFP.

 

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