CER blasts Tunisia president

BY ADAM MOSES

The Conference of European Rabbis has called on European governments to condemn inflammatory statements by Tunisia President Kaies Saied following Israel’s fiveday conflict with Palestinian Islamic Jihad militants in Gaza.

Saied remarked that while Tunisians “protected Jews during the Holocaust”, Palestinians are killed at the troubled border with Israel.

CER President, Chief Rabbi Pinchas Goldschmidt, blasted Saied for implying the Jews of Tunisia were responsible for the IDF bombing Gaza. Goldschmidt also noted that the Tunisian government had yet to visit victims of the recent terror attack at a synagogue in Djerba. He said in a statement: “Through such wanton remarks, the President continues to incite further hatred and even attacks against the country's Jewish community, heaven forbid. Since the attack, the Jewish community of Djerba has not been visited or contacted by any members of the government. The Tunisian President together with the relevant authorities should instead be offering support to the Jewish community and working to ensure its safety.”

Five people died in the terror attack during Lag BaOmer festivities at the Al-Ghriba Synagogue last week.

An Israeli national, Aviel Haddad, and his French cousin Ben Haddad, were among the dead.

Gunshots were heard outside the