Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu
Prime Minister Binyamin NetanyahuAmit Shabi/POOL/Flash 90

In the wake of the mass attack claimed by Islamic State (ISIS) in Paris on Saturday, in which no less than 128 people were murdered, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu and a leading European rabbi both called to increase security for Jewish institutions worldwide.

"Israel is shoulder to shoulder with France in the struggle against radical Islam that is eroding the Middle East and wide portions of the world," said Netanyahu in a special statement from his office in Jerusalem.

"I have ordered the security services to aid our friends in France and other countries. I have asked to tighten security measures around Israeli and Jewish institutions abroad. That is the order of the hour."

Rabbi Menachem Margolin, head of the Rabbinical Center of Europe (RCE) and the European Jewish Association (EJA), also called for greater security.

"All the escalation in the security situation obligates particularly the Jewish communities in Europe to strengthen the means of security in the communities," he said.

"We will turn to the heads of state in Europe to ensure that together with the special security operations they are taking in this special time period, security around the Jewish communities that are under constant threat will also continue."

Around 5,000 people took part in a solidarity rally of identification with the French victims on Saturday night in Tel Aviv's iconic Rabin Square.

French Ambassador to Israel Patrick Maisonnave was to speak at the rally, as was former President Shimon Peres and Opposition chairman MK Yitzhak Herzog (Zionist Camp).