Travel warnings for Israelis amid ISIS fears
Anti-Terrorism Bureau warns against travel to 41 locations ahead of High Holidays, with hundreds of thousands of Israelis expected to travel abroad next month –potentially making them targets to foreign terrorists.
"We are not ISIS' main target, but nevertheless we see them as a threat to Israeli targets," said the Counter-Terrorism Bureau. "But we cannot tell Israelis not to go to Belgium, for example, because ISIS is active in that country."
A similar danger, said the bureau, exists because of "Iran's and Hezbollah's global terror campaign," which it noted continues to pose a threat to Israeli and Jewish targets around the world, particularly tourist destinations and symbols of Jewish life such as rabbis, community leaders, and Chabad houses).
The severe travel warning about the Sinai Peninsula was still valid, as it has been for a decade, because of the local ISIS affiliates who have been committing terror attacks. The Taba Border Crossing to the Sinai still sees traffic of around 2,000-3,000 people per month, 40 percent tourists and 60 percent Israelis, mostly from the Arab population.
However, some scant dozens of Jews still cross the border to the casino adjacent to the crossing. "We are very concerned about the fates of the Israelis in the Sinai," said the Bureau. "The distance to being kidnapped by ISIS is very small."
Israelis are increasingly travelling to tourist destination in Turkey, and the bureau issued another warning this year, suggesting that Israelis avoid nonessential travel there. "The Turks have also begun activity against ISIS," the bureau noted. "We recommend carefully considering unessential visits. Its security is unstable."
In addition to warnings about Arab and Islamic countries (including those that have diplomatic relations with Israel), the bureau said threats against Western targets in general and Israelis in particular have grown in Africa, with an emphasis on businesspeople and Israeli companies. The bureau pointed to organizations such as Somalia's Al Shabab (also active in Kenya and other countries in the Horn of Africa), Boko Haram in Nigeria, and al-Qaeda and ISIS, which are active in north Africa and the Maghreb.
All in all, out of 193 countries in the world, the bureau issued travel warnings for 27 countries, legally binding travel bans for six countries, and eight travel warnings for specific areas – a total of 41 warnings and bans.
Among the dangerous regions were most of Kashmir in northern India, southern Thailand, Chechnya in Russia, and northern Nigeria.
Roughly 30,000 Israelis are expected to fly to Uman, Ukraine to visit the grave of Rabbi Nachman of Breslov. While the bureau did not issue a travel warning for Ukraine, it has spoken to local authorities to request hundreds of police to provide security.
