(Communicated by the Prime Minister's Media Adviser)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, this afternoon (Wednesday, 18 June 2014), met with participants in the 29th Israel International Mayors Conference. The conference is sponsored by the Foreign Ministry, the Union of Local Authorities and the American Council for World Jewry. Among the participants this year are – inter alia – the mayors of Berlin, Frankfurt, Buenos Aires, Sarajevo, Marseilles, Nice and Entebbe.
The mayors presented Prime Minister Netanyahu with an open letter condemning the abduction of Eyal Yifrach, Gilad Shaar and Naftali Frankel and calling for their immediate release (see attached copy).
Following is an excerpt from the letter:
"We, the undersigned mayors from the cities representing diverse communities around the world, call on any and all involved in the disappearance of the three Israeli boys Naftali Frankel, Gilad Shaar and Eyal Yifrach – to release them immediately, without conditions and safely return them to their families.
We were all saddened and deeply disappointed to learn of the boys' abduction as kidnapping as well as taking hostages is a violation of the international law.
It is our firm belief that at no time and under no circumstance should children become the victims of such an inhumane and unjust way of action.
As adults, we have a moral responsibility to protect all children and ensure their safety and security.
Again, with that in mind, we call on all involved to immediately release, without conditions and safely return the three boys."