Israel’s National Security Council Counter-Terrorism Bureau issued travel warnings Monday morning, ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays, pointing to increased efforts by Iran to target Israelis abroad.
“The NSC regularly assesses the risks posed by terrorist factors to Israelis abroad (both initiated actions stemming from terrorists' high motivation to attack Israelis and Jews, and as a result of the possibility of incidental harm caused by terrorist attacks abroad),” the council said in a statement.
The council urged Israelis planning trips abroad to stay updated on specific travel warnings, citing threats from Iran, especially in Turkey and Western Europe, and from radical Islamic terror groups like ISIS, especially in the Sinai.
“Over the past two years, Iran and its proxies have increased their attempts to attack Israelis abroad. In 2021-2022, Iranian efforts to attack Israelis in additional countries were thwarted. Prominent among these were the Iranian attempts to carry out terrorist attacks in Turkey in June 2022.”
“We believe that Iran will continue its efforts to attack Israeli targets around the world, in countries that are close to Iran and in Western Europe.”
Global jihad and radical Islamic organizations, especially Islamic State, and their supporters, continue to be highly motivated in their efforts to carry out attacks, including against Jewish and Israeli targets, in various countries, the council warned.
This is backed up by open declarations by the organizations' leaders calling for attacks on Israelis and Jews. These organizations have infrastructure, and are active, in the Middle East (especially northern Sinai), Africa and Asia. This is in addition to their irregular activity in other countries.
“We repeat our call to those who are planning to visit abroad to check the status of the travel warnings to their expected destinations before purchasing their tickets.”