Flags at Israel’s Rambam Medical Center in Haifa were at half-mast on Sunday morning in honor the victims in the Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania synagogue shooting in which 11 people were killed.
As Sunday’s Cabinet commenced the Israeli government stood for a minute of silence in solidarity with the victims, while on Saturday night, City Hall in Rabin Square in Tel Aviv flashed Red, Blue and White – the colors and shape of the American flag – as a symbol that Israel stands with the US Jewish community at this time.
As news broke of Saturday’s synagogue shooting in Squirrel Hill, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu said in a statement that he is “heartbroken and shocked by the murderous attack today at a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“The whole of Israel grieves with the families of the dead,” he said in the video posted to Twitter. “We stand together with the Jewish community of Pittsburgh, we stand together with the American people in the face of this horrifying antisemitic brutality. We all pray for their rapid recovery.”
Minutes later, President Reuven Rivlin echoed the sentiments saying that “our thoughts and prayers are with those affected by the events in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, We are thinking of ’our brothers and sisters, the whole house of Israel, in time of trouble’, as we say in the morning prayers,” he said.
“I am sure that the law enforcement and legal authorities in the US will investigate this horrific event thoroughly and that justice will be served on the despicable murderer,” Rivlin added.
Diaspora Affairs Minister and Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett flew on Saturday night to the US to meet with the Pittsburgh Jewish community and attend the funerals of those killed in the attack.
Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who was in New York at the time of the shooting expressed her shock about the anti-Semitic incident. “The most deadly murder of Jews in American history,” she said, “I’m in New York, where I was hosted in a synagogue on Shabbat evening and met wonderful Zionist people. The next day, we were told of the terrible massacre that took place in a synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“It’s heartbreaking, and I embrace the members of the congregation. The United States must deal with the anti-Semitism now rearing its head. Am Yisrael Chai,” Shaked concluded.
Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan said he was devastated by the shooting at the Tree of Life Synagogue in Pittsburgh.
“My thoughts and prayers are with the community and police. The Jewish People are one family. Those who want to harm us have never distinguished based on background or stream. We must stand together always,” he wrote.
Jewish Agency chairman Isaac Herzog called the shooting “horrible.”
“We at the Jewish Agency are in pain and mourning with the Pittsburgh Jewish community, and will assist in any possible way,” he said. “Our thoughts and prayers are with the victims and their families.”
Israel’s ambassador to the UN Danny Danon compared explained the Jewish concept that destroying a life is like destroying a universe.
“Today, 11 universes departed from this world,” he wrote. “This heinous act proves that antisemitism still lives, and we have a duty to fight back as strongly as we fight any threat.”
US President Donald Trump ordered that all American flags across the US, including at the White House, be flown at half-staff, following the synagogue massacre.