BICOM

Israel issued an upgraded travel advisory yesterday, urging Israeli citizens to leave the country as soon as possible. The warning comes in the wake of an ISIS attack which killed three Israelis in Istanbul earlier this month and an emerging concrete threat by ISIS to Jewish children in Turkey.

Israel’s counter-terrorism bureau raised the threat level to the second highest, indicating a high, concrete threat. A statement said “Terrorist infrastructures in Turkey continue to advance additional attacks against tourist targets – including Israeli tourists – throughout the country.” It advised that Israelis in Turkey should “leave as soon as possible.”

In particular, the counter-terrorism bureau highlighted a recent ISIS bombing in Istanbul which killed three Israeli tourists and wounded eleven others on an organised group. The attack, said the statement, “demonstrates the high threat in Turkey posed by ISIS elements to tourist sites and shows a high capability to carry out more attacks.” The Director General of Israel’s Foreign Ministry Dore Gold visited Turkey in the wake of the Istanbul attack and praised Turkish authorities for their cooperation.

In a parallel development yesterday, Sky News reported that ISIS is in the advanced stages of planning an attack in Turkey targeting the Jewish community and in particular its children and young people. On Saturday, Turkish police warned of possible ISIS attacks on Jewish and Christian targets. However, Sky News reported a more specific threat to Jewish schools, nurseries and youth groups. An intelligence source warned “This is a more than credible threat. This is an active plot” which was apparently uncovered following arrests by Turkish authorities in the southern town of Gaziantep. In particular, Istanbul’s main Neve Shalom synagogue is thought to be a target. It has suffered two previous deadly attacks in 1986 and 2003.

Meanwhile, in Israel yesterday, two Palestinians from East Jerusalem were charged with planning an attack on an Israeli military vehicle on behalf of ISIS. The pair had apparently attempted to build an explosive device.