Travel warning issued to Israelis ahead of Passover holiday
'Since the beginning of the war, we have been experiencing new highs in attempts to harm Israelis and Jews around the world,' a source on the National Security Council told i24NEWS
The National Security Council on Monday issued a travel warning to Israelis amid the threat of attacks, particularly during the Passover holiday and summer.
"Since the beginning of the war, we have been experiencing new highs in attempts to harm Israelis and Jews around the world," a source on the council told i24NEWS.
Even countries considered "safe," such as the United Arab Emirates, have been the site of antisemitic attacks. After the murder of Chabad Rabbi Zvi Kogan last November, there was another attempt to lure an Israeli businessman and kidnap him.
Naming Iran as the "main perpetrator of global terrorism," the council's warning said that either Iran or its proxies such as Hezbollah or Hamas may seek to target Israelis abroad in retaliation for the significant losses sustained by the so-called "Axis of Resistance."
The statement noted attempts against Israei diplomatic missions abroad, including in Sweden and Belgium, and to reach out to Israelis and ensnare them to either recruit them, hurt them, or abduct them. Social media is usually used to carry out these attempts.
Since the beginning of the war, Hamas has tried on several occasions to perpetrate attacks against Israelis abroad, although these attempts have been thwarted. The countries where Hamas infrastructure has been exposed include Denmark, Germany, Bulgaria, and Sweden. Such attempts are expected to multiply.
The Islamic State terrorist group has also planned several attacks, particularly in European countries. A terrorist inspired by Islamic State perpetrated the New Orleans car-ramming attack, which killed 14 and wounded 57 others. Other car-ramming attacks in Germany raise flags, with the deterioration of the ceasefire possibly foreshadowing either a vehicular or stabbing attack.
In Australia, vandalism and arson attacks against the Jewish community have skyrocketed in recent months. In Canada, the National Security Council said, several incidents of firebombings and shooting attacks were registered in 2024 in Toronto and Montreal.
Even sporting events can present an opportunity, exemplified by the anti-Jewish riots after the Maccabi Tel Aviv-Ajax match in Amsterdam.
In recent months, an increasing trend has been identified in terrorist acts by global jihad organizations and radical Islam ("Islamic State" - ISIS, alongside Al-Qaeda, Al-Shabaab and various groups around the world), with an emphasis, among other things, on European countries.