On March 19, terrorist Mohammed Merah arrived at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse and murdered Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, a school teacher, his two sons, six-year-old Aryeh and three-year-old Gabriel, and d, eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego, before escaping.

 

Israeli President Isaac Herzog will participate on March 20 in a memorial marking one decade since the terror attack at a Jewish school in Toulouse, at the invitation of French President Emmanuel Macron.

Between March 11 and 19, 2012, an Islamist terrorist, Mohammed Merah, shot  dead three French soldiers and wounded one more in the city of Montauban. On March 19, Merah arrived at the Ozar Hatorah Jewish school in Toulouse and murdered Rabbi Jonathan Sandler, a school teacher, his two sons, six-year-old Aryeh and three-year-old Gabriel, and d, eight-year-old Miriam Monsonego, before escaping.

The terrorist, who was trained with jihadist groups in Syria, Afghanistan and Pakistan, was shot dead by a police tactical unit days later during a 30-hour siege at his apartment building.

The four victims of the Toulouse attack were buried at the Givat Shaul cemetery in Jerusalem.

Herzog will participate in the ceremony in the framework of a two-day visit to France during which he will hold a diplomatic meeting with President Macron.

The invitation to Herzog was conveyed after the French president met with Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid in Paris last December.

The memorial will take place in Toulouse with the participation of leaders of the Jewish community, heads of Jewish organizations in France, former French Presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and François Hollande, former prime ministers of France, local leaders, and representatives of the Jewish community. In the evening, President Herzog and the First Lady will be the guests of President Emmanuel Macron and the First Lady of France Brigitte Macron for dinner at the Elysée Palace.