The National Security Council (NSC) publishes an update of travel warnings ahead of the High Holidays 2023 - assessing the threat to Israelis abroad.
The Counterterrorism Division of the National Security Council (NSC) is publishing today (Thursday, August 31, 2023), 2023 Elul <>, the assessment of the threat to Israelis abroad posed by terrorist elements and the status of travel warnings ahead of the High Holidays <>. This is in order to increase the Israeli public's awareness of the terrorist threats posed against it in various places around the world and to take action accordingly. It should be emphasized that this is an up-to-date summary of the main trends in the activity of terrorist elements around the world and their impact on the level of threat posed to Israelis abroad, and not new travel warnings.
In this context, an updated list of travel warnings for Israelis abroad in all countries around the world and recommendations for conduct in countries with different levels of risk is presented. This list is continuously updated and accessible to the public 24/7 throughout the year, both through the NSC website and through a human response (phone number: 02-6667444).
Main trends:
Iran
1. Iran remains the main generator of global terrorism and continues its activity to promote attacks on Israeli civilians and Jews around the world, directly and through proxies and proxies it operates in various countries around the world, in violation of their sovereignty.
2. In addition, Iranian terrorist elements continue their attempts to contact Israeli citizens in Israel and abroad under the guise of business or impersonating other parties, in order to retrieval them and promote harm to them. In this context, a number of Iranian intentions to attack Israeli and Jewish targets around the world were exposed and thwarted during the past year.
Global Jihad
3. The various global jihad and radical Islam organizations continue to operate and carry out terrorist attacks and attacks at various sites around the world. In addition, the organizations show increased interest in harming Israelis and Jews and call on their supporters to harm Jews around the world. A major threat is from lone terrorists, who are inspired by the organizations and may carry out attacks against Israelis and Jews.
4. It should be noted that these organizations currently focus most of their activity on Africa, the Middle East, Asia and Europe, alongside more sporadic attempts to promote activity in other countries around the world.
Hamas and PIJ
5. Hamas and PIJ: Recently, Hamas and PIJ elements have been highly motivated to carry out abduction attacks inside Israel in order to increase the movement's bargaining chips vis-à-vis Israel. It is not inconceivable that the organizations will seek to promote abduction attacks against Israelis/Jews outside the borders of the country. This was against the background of Hamas' perception that the contacts on the issue of prisoners and missing persons had reached a dead end, alongside increasing pressure on the movement to advance a solution to the issue. Hamas Chairman Ismail Haniya even publicly stated that "Hamas will not shy away from promoting kidnappings" and that "we have four prisoners, and if that is not enough to convince Israel to make a deal, then we will kidnap more with our arms that are everywhere."
Far-right
6. Jewish communities (along with other minorities) are also a major target for extreme right-wing terrorism, with religious and community institutions being preferred and holidays and holidays particularly sensitive. In recent years, attacks have been carried out against religious institutions throughout Europe and America, out of anti-Semitic ideological motives against Jews.
Threatened arenas
7. Arenas with a higher likelihood of Iranian terrorist activity are the countries surrounding Iran (such as Georgia, Azerbaijan, Turkey, and the Kurdish region), the countries of the Mediterranean basin, countries in Africa, and Latin America.
8. The Sinai arena still poses a threat, and we suggest that Israelis staying in Sinai stay only in known tourist sites (the secure strip of beaches and Sharm) where Egyptian security forces are present, and avoid hiking deep in Sinai or staying in isolated and unfamiliar sites.
9. Recently, there has been an increase in the potential terrorist threat in Sweden and Denmark due to the burning of the Koran in the country. At the same time, Sweden raised the level of internal threat to a high level. Events should be monitored through the media channels (even in light of the potential for spillover to other countries).
Prohibition on Israelis entering enemy countries
10. According to Israeli law, it is strictly forbidden for Israelis to travel to enemy countries (Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, Yemen and Iran), even for those with additional citizenship who use a dual passport. While staying in these countries, the Israeli citizen is exposed to a higher risk of abduction and/or injury to his life.
11. In this context, the abduction of Elizabeth Tsurkov, an Israeli citizen with a Russian passport, who was in Iraq illegally, as part of an academic study, was noted by the Shi'ite Kataeb Hezbollah militia.
We call on the Israeli public to continue to travel abroad but to be alert, to act responsibly according to the level of risk in the country they are visiting, and to adhere to the recommendations detailed below. In countries with a high level of risk, increased precautions should be taken and Israeli/Jewish symbols should be avoided. We also recommend that the public monitor the status of travel warnings issued by the National Security Council. As demonstrated over the past year, these warnings are well-founded and reflect a potential tangible and valid threat. We reiterate our call to the public planning a trip abroad to check the status of the travel warning to the selected destinations, before purchasing tickets to the destination.
Wrong? We'll fix it! If you find a mistake in the article, please share with us