Netanyahu sends condolences to Japan’s Abe over IS killings

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a condolence letter Sunday to his Japanese counterpart Shinzo Abe, as Japan grappled with the killings of two Japanese journalists by the Islamic State terror group in faraway Syria.

“Please accept my heartfelt condolences following the tragic deaths of Haruna Yukawa and Kenji Goto,” the letter read.

The Islamic State group said Saturday it had beheaded Goto, drawing outrage from Tokyo and condemnation from Washington.

The claim was made in a video released online that included no mention of a Jordanian pilot also being held by IS, whom the jihadist group has also threatened to kill.

“These despicable, cold-blooded murders by ISIS are a chilling reminder of the need for all free nations to join hands in an uncompromising battle against the Islamist terrorism that is plaguing the Middle East and the entire world,” Netanyahu wrote in the Sunday letter, using an alternate acronym for the group.

“Kindly convey our deepest sympathies to the families of the victims. Our thoughts and prayers are with them and the Japanese people at this difficult time.”

Abe was in Israel on a state visit last month when the Islamic State first announced it was holding Goto and Yukawa, an aid worker who was killed in a video released last week.

In an appearance before reporters in Tokyo Sunday, a visibly upset Abe vowed to “never forgive terrorists.”

“I am extremely angry about these heinous and despicable terrorist acts. We will never forgive terrorists,” Abe said.

“We will cooperate with the international community to make them atone for their crimes.”

In the video, Goto is seen kneeling next to a standing masked man who speaks with a British accent and blames the Japanese government for his “slaughter.”

The man, dressed head-to-toe in black with his face covered, appears to be the same IS member who has featured in the group’s previous execution videos.

Goto is dressed in an orange outfit similar to those worn by prisoners at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, also in keeping with hostages in previous IS videos.

The executioner, who is standing against a mountainous background, addresses Abe, saying the murder of Goto would mark the beginning of “the nightmare for Japan.”

Goto’s killing, he said, was the result of “reckless” decisions by the Japanese government.

The brief video ends with the image of a body dressed in orange with a decapitated head on top of it.

In Tokyo, a government spokesman said Japan was “extremely outraged” at the “heinous and despicable terrorist act.”

And in Washington, National Security Council spokeswoman Bernadette Meehan said the United States strongly condemned the execution and was working to confirm the video’s authenticity.

Many Japanese expressed dismay over the news.

“I feel so sad and angry. Why didn’t the government rescue Kenji?” said Mayuko Tamura, 31, a pediatrician who along with her husband and their 8-month-old baby joined a few dozen people gathered in front of Abe’s official residence Sunday afternoon to show their sympathy for the hostages.

The apparent execution came after Japan said negotiations to win Goto’s release in a prisoner exchange had stalled.

“It has become deadlocked,” Deputy Foreign Minister Yasuhide Nakayama, who is leading Tokyo’s emergency response in Jordan, told reporters in Amman late Friday, Japanese media reported.

IS had vowed to kill Goto and Jordanian pilot Maaz al-Kassasbeh by sunset Thursday unless Amman handed over an Iraqi female jihadist.

IS has imposed a brutal version of Islamic law in territory it controls in Syria and Iraq and has executed since August two US journalists, an American aid worker and two British aid workers.

AFP contributed to this report.