In the wake of the al-Qaeda terror plot which was foiled this past weekend and is suspected to have been directed at Jewish communities in the United States, Israel’s Ministry of Public Diplomacy & Diaspora Affairs has decided to reach out to Jewish communities around the world in order to strengthen them.
The Ministry’s Director General, Ronen Plot, sent out a letter on Monday in which he wrote: “We would like to inform you that the Ministry of Public Diplomacy & Diaspora Affairs of the State of Israel has reached out to Jewish communities around the world following the increased threat, which was recently exposed, involving explosive packages.”
The letter explains that the Ministry has opened a hotline which can be used by members of Jewish communities around the world to submit inquiries, concerns, or reports of possible threats. These will be forwarded by hotline staff to the appropriate contacts, government and non-governmental.
The foiled terror plot first made headlines this past weekend, after two explosive packages sent from Yemen were discovered en-route in the United Arab Emirates and Britain. One, discovered at a British airport, contained enough explosives to bring down an airplane, according to British Home Secretary Theresa May. The other, found in Dubai, the UAE's largest city, was similarly powerful. The addresses on the packages were synagogues, one a gay gathering, in Chicago.
The plot was uncovered when police were informed of the possibility of an explosive device in packages aboard a FedEx flight to Dubai. The Saudi Arabian government provided the tracking numbers of the packages, which were then tracked down and neutralized. A woman believed to be connected to the plot had later been arrested in Sanaa, Yemen's capital, where the packages originated.
Following the incident, the United States and Britain announced a ban on all cargo from Yemen. Germany banned both cargo and passenger flights from Yemen. Canada and the Netherlands are the two latest countries to join the ban on air cargo from Yemen.
The U.S. government said Monday it has identified the leading terrorist suspect as 28-year-old Ibrahim Hassan Al-Asiri, believed to be hiding in Yemen. He also is linked to the attempt to blow up a plane bound for Detroit last Christmas and was behind an attempted assassination of a senior Saudi Arabia counterterrorism official.
U.S. deputy national security adviser John Brennan said Sunday that the United States is "at war with Al-Qaeda,” and added that he believes that “they are going to try to identify vulnerabilities that might exist in the system.”
Minister of Public Diplomacy & Diaspora Affairs, Yuli Edelstein, said in a statement: “Israel is committed to the safety of Jews everywhere. We work regularly with Jewish communities to review the security situation, assess the scope and strengthen the connection between Diaspora Jewry and Israel. To further these efforts, we have opened a special hotline in response to recent events, which were allegedly intended to harm the Jewish community of Chicago. We have initiated a public appeal for community members to express their questions and concerns through this official forum.”
The Ministry’s hotline phone number is +972 (2) 6587146. Inquiries can also be made by e-mail at info@masbirim.gov.il