Israel's National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau has warned of possible terrorist attacks on Israelis in Western Europe. Today, with the Jewish holiday season approaching, the Bureau published its updated travel warning map. The Bureau says that, following the attack on the Jewish Museum in Brussels in May this year, it is feared that there could be further attacks on Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, with an emphasis on Western Europe, by jihadists, including IS. The threat, the Bureau says, comes mainly from "graduates of Syria and Iraq" returning to their countries of origin. According to the information in its possession, revenge threats of murder or kidnap continue to be made against Israelis overseas, especially against business people and former government officials.
The Bureau warns that the global terror campaign by Iran and Hezbollah continues to represent a threat to Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide, particularly soft targets like tourists, representative figures such as rabbis and heads of communities, and Habad houses. As for the Sinai peninsula, the Bureau states that the travel warning remains in force, and it also repeats its recommendation against non-essential travel to Turkey.
The threat of attacks on Israeli tourists and commercial targets in Africa has worsened, the Bureau says, especially in Kenya and Nigeria. The many travel warnings stem from the fact that Hezbollah accuses Israel of responsibility for the killing of a senior figure in the organization, Imad Mughniyeh, in Damascus in 2008, and Iran publicly blames Israel for the deaths of three of its nuclear scientists.
The Bureau recommends Israeli travelling overseas "to maintain high levels of sensitivity and awareness, to completely avoid staying in countries for which a travel warning is in force, to refuse any tempting and unexpected business or entertainment proposal, to refuse unexpected invitations to meetings, particularly in remote places and after dark, not to allow suspicious or unexpected visitors into hotel rooms or apartments, and, on an extended stay overseas, to break up routine by changing travel routes, restaurants, places of entertainment, and hotels."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on September 15, 2014
© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2014