Plane carrying remains of Mumbai victims heads for Israel

An Air Force aircraft transporting the bodies of the six Chabad center victims took off from Mumbai on Monday afternoon. It is expected to land in the late evening hours at Ben-Gurion airport.

After it lands a memorial service will be held at the airport and a representative of the Chief Rabbinate will say the Kaddish prayer.

The funeral dates of the six victims - Chabad emissaries Gavriel and Rivka Holtzberg, Yocheved Orpaz, Ben-Zion Kruman, Aryeh Leibish Teitelbaum and Norma Schvartzblat-Rabinowitz - will be announced upon the arrival of their remains in Israel.

Also on Monday afternoon, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert spoke by telephone with Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

Moshe Holtzberg with grandparents, in arms of nanny Sandra Samuel (Photo: Boaz Arad)

Olmert extended Israel's sympathies over the Mumbai terror attacks and the murder of innocent civilians. He once again expressed his deep appreciation of the bold and daring response of the Indian army and said courage and determination are important elements in dealing with terror.

Olmert thanked his counterpart for the cooperation between the two countries during the ordeal.

The Indian prime minister thanked Olmert for his empathy and extended the Indian people's condolences over the murder of the Israelis at the Chabad center.

He said the determined action ordered by the Indian authorities stemmed from an understanding that terrorists must not be negotiated with but rather only handled with force.

Both leaders agreed to maintain the cooperation between their two countries, and pledged to work closer together in the war against terrorism.

Roni Sofer contributed to this report