According to reports, French government authorities asked Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu not to attend Sunday’s unity rally in Paris, for fear his presence would be “divisive.” He did not accede to the request, and for good reason. The leader of the Jewish state needed to be there to serve as a reminder that all Jews have a responsibility to stand united. In the wake of Friday’s terror attack that left four Jewish Parisians dead, to do anything less would have been truly divisive. 

The killings at Hyper Cacher emphasized, once again, the dangers facing Jews in France and across Europe. Mass emigration has never seemed more possible, though French and European authorities have been quick to speak in support of their Jewish communities, led by French Prime Minister Manuel Valls. “If 100,000 Jews leave,” he said, “France will no longer be France.” But if French Jews are to feel safe again, words won’t be enough.

In order to ensure the safety of their Jewish communities, European leaders will have to act strongly, and quickly, against Muslim radicals who teach that killing Jews, and cartoonists, is a virtuous thing. Mainstream Muslim leaders should be asked to do their part, too – not as some sort of blame by association, but because their religion is also under threat. And Europe’s Jewish leaders must proclaim that they will not be scared away, nor will they accept that anti-Semitism is the new normal, if they choose to stay.

That’s a tall order, but perhaps this incident will be the final straw, the true impetus for real change, the moment when Europe decides to take a stand. Or maybe not – we’ve held out the same hope before, after all. We hoped things would change after Toulouse, when four Jews, three of them children, were shot at a Jewish school. And we hoped just a few months ago after four people were killed outside the Jewish Museum of Belgium in Brussels. We even hoped in July, when Parisian Jews were forced to barricade themselves inside a synagogue to avoid an anti-Semitic mob. A couple million people rallying for unity is a nice gesture, no doubt. But to truly effect change, it must be just the beginning. 

That’s why Netanyahu had to be in Paris on Sunday – not for the photo-op with world leaders, not even to remind the Jews of France they have a home waiting for them in Israel should they need it, but to serve as a symbol for Jewish unity and strength. His presence signalled that Jews all over the world are paying close attention, that we intend to stand up against anti-Semitism in all its forms, and that we expect everyone else who believes in human rights and democracy do the same.

As Jews around the world watched the attack in Paris unfold, all we could really do was hope and pray everything would somehow be OK, even if we knew deep down there was no way it could be. Let it be the last time we feel that way, because we are not powerless. We have a voice. That’s why we proclaim: “Je suis Juif.”