3 hrs ago.
— Fuat (@lilygrutcher) June 13, 2022
Israeli FM Yair Lapid urges the Israelis in Istanbul to leave the city as soon as possible.
Israel urges nationals to leave Turkey over Iran attack threat #MiddleEast https://t.co/CmOfLTjHJK
— Naharnet (@Naharnet) June 13, 2022
Israelis in Istanbul were whisked away as Iranian assassins waited at hotel — report
[IsraelTimes] Tourists warned of immediate threat while out shopping and rushed to airport, report says;
Several Israelis visiting Istanbul were reportedly whisked out of
...the only place on the face of the earth that misses the Ottoman Empire...
last week by Israeli security officials, who were acting on intelligence showing that the visitors were at immediate risk from Iranian assassins.
One woman out visiting a market got a call from a senior Israeli official telling her to not return to her hotel because Iranian assassins were waiting there for her and her spouse, Channel 13 reported Monday.
Instead, a caravan with some 10 Israeli security officers took the couple to the airport, leaving their stuff in the hotel, and then to Israel, where they were probed for clues about the plot against them, the network said.
No further details about the couple were revealed, including whether they were individually targeted for a specific reason or if they were only threatened due to being Israeli. It also was not clear how many people were contacted and told to leave immediately.
According to Channel 13, the government waited until Monday to warn the rest of the public about the imminent threat against Israelis in Turkey out of consideration for local authorities there, who wanted time to deal with the situation. Israel on Monday issued its most severe travel warning for Istanbul over attempts by Iran
...Formerly a fairly civilized nation ruled by a Shah, it became a victim of Islamic revolution in 1979...to attack Israeli travelers.
Two weeks ago, Channel 12 reported that Israeli security officials called and directly warned more than 100 Israeli citizens in Turkey that they were in Iran’s crosshairs, asking them to return home.
Israel is not currently planning on sending rescue flights for Israelis in Turkey, and many in the country are not planning on fleeing anyway, Channel 13 said. Flight cancellations for those planning trips, however, are starting to pile up.
Despite the warnings, the Walla news site reported that 21 flights with 3,750 passengers departed Israel for Turkey on Monday. Some may be transferring through Turkey; Israeli authorities have said it is still safe for Israelis to have a layover in Istanbul, as long as they stay in the airport.
Separately, the Ynet news site reported on Monday that Turkey’s National Intelligence Organization (MIT) recently arrested Iranian agents who were planning on carrying out a shooting and kidnapping attack against Israeli tourists in Turkey.
The report did not cite a source, but an Israeli security official told Rooters that Turkey has arrested several people suspected of being operatives of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps. Ynet said there may be additional Iranian agents on the lam and that authorities’ pursuit of them has not ended.
Israel’s National Security Council on Monday raised the warning for Istanbul to level 4, the highest, meaning Israelis are explicitly told not to visit an area and to leave if they are already there. Countries with the level 4 "high threat" warning include Iraq, Yemen
...an area of the Arabian Peninsula sometimes mistaken for a country. It is populated by more antagonistic tribes and factions than you can keep track of...
, Afghanistan, and Iran.
The authority said it raised the warning level amid "the continuing threat and amid the escalation of Iranian intentions to harm Israelis in Turkey, with an emphasis on Istanbul." Other parts of Turkey remained at a level 3 warning, with recommendations to avoid visiting the country for nonessential reasons.
Israeli security officials reportedly tipped off their
Channel 12 said Monday evening that "there are still Iranian cells in the area" and "ongoing cooperation between the Mossad and the
The National Security Council revised its travel warning for Turkey last month to level 3, saying there was a concrete threat to Israelis from "Iranian terrorist operatives" there and in nearby countries.
That warning followed the liquidation of a senior officer in the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps, Col. Hassan Sayyad Khodaei, which Iran blamed on Israel.