Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
Diplomats including Germany's Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Italy's Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani pay solidarity visits to southern Israel, accompanied by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen, October 13, 2023 (Lazar Berman/Times of Israel)
After the visit of US Secretary of State Antony Blinken to Israel yesterday and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin today, European foreign ministers begin to reach southern Israel on solidarity trips.
Italian Foreign Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Antonio Tajani met with Foreign Minister Eli Cohen in Netivot, where they heard from Yoni, whose wife and daughters were kidnapped into Gaza by Hamas terrorists.
As Tajani embraced Cohen with a farewell hug at a house in Netivot where three generations of a family were killed after a direct strike by a missile, German Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock showed up at the blackened building. A dog barked nervously at the rush of German diplomats and blond security guards.
“This is the worst day for the Jewish people since the Holocaust,” Cohen said next to the German foreign minister.
“I will say something I never thought I would have to say,” said Cohen as they stood in the rubble of the building: “Never again.”
“Never again will we let ourselves live next to vicious terrorists.”
Diplomats including Germany’s Foreign Minister Annalena Baerbock and Italy’s Foreign Minister Antonio Tajani, left, pay solidarity visits to southern Israel, accompanied by Foreign Minister Eli Cohen (center right), October 13, 2023 (Lazar Berman / Times of Israel)
He then pivoted to compare Hamas to ISIS.
European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen , European Parliament Roberta Metsola and Canadian Foreign Minister Mélanie Joly are all visiting Israel today as well.
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From the Liveblog of
Friday, October 13, 2023
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