Holidays

Ahead of the spring festivals and the summer holidays, the National Security Council (NSC) is publicizing its assessment of threats by terrorists to Israelis abroad. This is done in order to increase awareness among the Israeli public of the terrorist threats it faces in various places around the world.

The document consolidates the major trends in activity by terrorist factions around the world that have an impact on the threat level against Israelis abroad.

The full list of travel alerts in all countries and recommended precautions for Israelis to take in countries with the various threat levels is updated regularly and is accessible to the public on the NSC’s travel alert website and at the call center which is staffed 24/7 (+972-2-666-7444).

The Main Trends:

Iran is the main instigator of global terrorism against Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, both directly and through its proxies. It continues to use terrorism as a key policy instrument, in response to and in revenge for the harm inflicted on high-ranking Iranian officials and senior Hezbollah and Hamas operatives in the Swords of Iron war.

Over the past year, many Iran-led terrorist plots were exposed and thwarted. These include attempted attacks on Israeli diplomatic missions abroad (Sweden and Belgium), and ongoing attempts by Iranian terrorist entities to create ties with Israeli citizens in Israel and abroad (under the guise of business contacts/impersonation), with the goal of harming or kidnapping them.

 This is usually done through the internet by creating fraudulent contact through email, social media and the like. The NSC’s website has detailed guidelines to avoid falling for this scheme.

Hamas also continues its activity to attack Jews and Israelis abroad, against the backdrop of their dire situation in the Gaza Strip and the resumed fighting in Gaza, which we expect will increase their attempts. In this context, since the beginning of the war, several attacks against Israeli targets around the world were thwarted, and Hamas infrastructure—with plans to carry out attacks on Israeli targets—was exposed in various countries, including Denmark, Germany, Bulgaria and Sweden. Our assessment is that the organization will continue its attempts to carry out attacks against Israeli/Jewish targets abroad.

In the past few months, we have identified an increase in terrorist activity by Global Jihad and other radical Islamist organizations (the Islamic State [Da’esh], al-Qaeda, al-Shabab and others), mostly, but not exclusively, in Europe.

With the collapse of the ceasefire and resumed fighting in Gaza, we are expecting to see an increase in attempted attacks against Israeli/Jewish targets abroad carried out by local initiatives or lone-wolf attackers.

Several examples of this: A terrorist who was influenced by Da’esh’s extremist Islamic ideology rammed a vehicle into New Year Eve party goers in New Orleans, killing 14 and injuring 57. Two additional vehicular ramming attacks took place in Germany, a stabbing attack was carried out in Austria, and many thwarted attacks in Germany, Sweden and Türkiye have been reported.

There have been several attempts to harm Jews and Israelis in Australia, including setting fire to a kindergarten, setting fire to a synagogue and an attempted attack on Jewish targets, which was foiled. Throughout 2024, several shootings at synagogues and Jewish schools were recorded in Montreal and Toronto, Canada, as well as incidents in which Molotov cocktails were hurled at these targets.

Most of the Global Jihad infrastructure and activity continues to be focused in Africa (and more specifically the Horn of Africa, the Sahel region and some Central African countries), in the Middle East and in Asia (mostly Afghanistan, southern Philippines, Pakistan, Bangladesh, the Kashmir region in India and parts of Indonesia).

The Sinai Peninsula continues to be under threat of terrorism as a destination for Israeli tourists (albeit in a more limited scope compared to previous years) primarily along the coast. It should be noted that a level-4 travel alert has been issued for the peninsula, denoting a high threat level and a prohibition to travel to the area.

In addition to the increased terrorism threats, we have seen a surge in hate crimes and antisemitic incidents against Jews and Israelis around the world. Since the beginning of the Swords of Iron war, there have been hundreds of violent attacks against Israelis/Jews around the world, both in organized, planned attacks and in local/lone-wolf initiatives, including mob violence such as the riot attack on Maccabi Tel Aviv soccer fans in Amsterdam (November 7, 2024).

Unusual security operations in Judea and Samaria (the West Bank), Jerusalem (and the Temple Mount) and Israel, alongside the possibility of the war expanding to other fronts, could have an impact, like they have had in the past, on the motivation of lone-wolfs and independent infrastructure to carry out attacks.

The bottom line is that the various terrorist entities (Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah, Global Jihad) are still high motivated and active in advancing attacks against Israelis and Jews around the world. The backdrop of the hate-filled general feeling towards Israelis and Jews in many countries because of the war continues to fuel motivation among terrorists to carry out attacks against Israelis and Jews abroad.

In light of all this, the National Security Council (NSC) reiterates its recommendation to the Israeli public to act responsibly while traveling abroad, check the NSC travel alerts website prior to purchasing flight tickets and act in accordance with the guidelines in the travel warning and the threat level in the country they are visiting. As the past year has proven, these warnings are factually based and reflect concrete and valid potential threats.

You can see all the travel warnings and recommended precautions to take while traveling abroad on the NSC website (https://nsc.gov.il), and you can call the NSC with any questions you may have (+972-2-666-7444).

Travel Threat Levels:

No Warning (Level 1): We recommend taking basic precautionary measures

Potential threat (Level 2): We recommend taking increased precautionary measures

Moderate threat level (Level 3): We recommend avoiding unnecessary travel to this destination

High threat level (Level 4): Travel to this country is prohibited. Those who are already there must leave immediately.

Mixed threat level: These countries have various threat levels in different areas. The recommendations should be read closely.