Israel asks Greece, Cyprus to step up security around Israelis
Less than two weeks before Rosh Hashana, Counter Terrorism Bureau stresses that 'terror campaign didn't stop in Burgas'; issues renewed Sinai travel advisory
The Counter Terrorism Bureau has recently asked security and government authorities in Greece, Cyprus, Bulgaria and Thailand to step up visible and undercover security around Israeli tourists.
"The terror campaign didn't stop in Burgas," sources at the CTB said Wednesday adding that there had been no preliminary warning ahead of the Burgas attack. They noted that there has been no alert for another attack and therefore no travel advisory has been issued.
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Cyprus and Greece too have not been issued with travel advisories. But Israel is warning travelers to avoid going to Turkey and Azerbaijan as well as a number of African countries including Nigeria and Kenya. The CTB has also called on Israelis to avoid traveling to Sinai following an urgent alert on an abduction attack.
Thousands of Israelis still choose Sinai as their holiday destination, including several dozen Jews, according to the CTB. The Sinai advisory stated that Gaza terrorists and other elements continue to work towards "carrying out attacks, mainly abductions, against Israelis in Sinai in the near future."
Tourists in Rhodes (Photo: Omer Hacohen)
Israeli defense officials are also monitoring the investigation being conducted by Bulgarian security forces into the Burgas attack. Bulgaria has beefed up security around Israeli tourists, they said, but not to the required level.
The CTB made it clear to Bulgarian authorities that the fact that a terror attack had already taken place in Bulgaria does not a guarantee that an additional attack would not take place there again.
The CTB stressed that it was very important on a diplomatic level that the Bulgarian investigation points to Hezbollah as being directly responsible for the attack. Such a declaration could lead to Hezbollah being declared as a terrorist organization, a step the European Union still refuses to take.
"We have been working hard this past year to foil terrorist attacks," sources at the CTB said. "We have also asked Thai authorities to pay particular attention to concentrations of Israelis and have also asked the help of travel agents on the matter, though they are not responsible for tourists' safety."
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