Hizbullah Worries IDF on Holiday

IDF military intelligence officials are warning the Hizbullah terrorist organization may try to carry out another cross-border attack on a community in northern Israel over the Rosh HaShana holiday.

The Lebanon-based group has vowed for months that it will strike at Israel to avenge the assassination in Damascus last February of its second-in-command, Imad Mughniyeh, which it blamed on the Jewish State.

Defense officials said Hizbullah may use the holiday season to carry out another raid on a northern border town and possibly kidnap more IDF soldiers, as it did in the summer of 2006, when the terrorists abducted and killed reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. That attack, which was carried out with simultaneous Katyusha rocket attacks on northern Israel, touched off the Second Lebanon War.

There is also a concern that the terrorists may infiltrate a town and barricade themselves inside a home with civilian hostages.

It is believed that the threat level is higher at this time due to the transitional nature of the current government; Prime Minister Ehud Olmert has resigned, and Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, tasked with building a new coalition, has not yet achieved her goal.

Intelligence officials said Hizbullah may believe that under the circumstances, Israeli leaders will hesitate to respond harshly to such an attack and risk a third Lebanon war.

Hizbullah Kidnap Threats Abroad Remain

Meanwhile, the Counterterrorism Bureau has reiterated its travel advisory warning Israelis abroad to maintain a high level of awareness, given Hizbullah's vow to avenge Mughniyeh's death.

According to intelligence officials, the terror group has made at least 50 attempts to kidnap Israelis abroad in the past several years, all of which were stymied.

Terror alerts and travel advisories against tourism to the Sinai Peninsula are at their highest ever, with "concrete and immediate" warnings of attempts to kidnap Israelis in the popular holiday resort destination being reported by the Counterterrorism Bureau.

Following last week's meeting of the Security Cabinet, ministers went so far as to issue a specific communiqué warning Israelis to pay strict attention to the Counterterrorism Bureau alerts.

The statement quoted Prime Minister Olmert, who noted that "various events have occurred in recent years, which have created high motivation among the terrorist organizations, mainly Hizbullah, to attack Israelis. Government bodies are making every effort to map the threats and warn against them; however, it is the responsibility – first and foremost – of every citizen who travels abroad to keep far away from dangerous areas and to take the obligatory precautions."