BICOM

A gunman arrested in France on suspicion of carrying out the shooting, which killed four in the Jewish museum in Brussels, was a French citizen who fought with jihadists in Syria, according to Paris prosecutor Frederic Molins.  Mehdi Nemmouche, 29, had served five jail sentences since 2004, including one for armed robbery, and travelled to Syria after his release at the end of 2012.

Two of the four victims were an Israeli couple, Mira and Emanuel Riva, who were on holiday. There had been some speculation in the Israeli media that the couple has been targeted personally, when it emerged that they had worked as book keepers in various Israeli government ministries and agencies, but the arrest of Nemmouche is regarded in Israel as finally disproving this theory. The apparent carelessness of the attacker in allowing himself to be caught with his weapons, points to a antisemitic motive, rather than a professional targeted killing.

The shootings, the first terror attack by a European returning from fighting in Syria, highlights growing concerns in European capitals about the threat posed by hundreds of European Muslims who travelled to Syria to fight with jihadist groups. Israeli security officials will also be concerned of the threat to Jewish and Israeli targets in Europe, and the threat is likely to prompt increasing intelligence cooperation. Security analyst Yossi Melman, writes in today’s Maariv that the mistakes apparently made by Nemmouche, “do not detract from the severity of the threat posed to Europe and Israeli and Jewish targets by ‘lone wolves.’”