Another, third this time, warnings were issued in Israel for tourists traveling to Turkey. This time, the Minister of Defense Benny Ganz personally called on tourists to leave Turkey immediately. The reason is the fear of terrorist attacks on Turkish territory by Iran. Tourists, however, continue to ignore these warnings. It is important to understand that tourists from other countries may be accidentally affected by such terrorist attacks.
The situation turned out as follows: Colonel Hassan Saeed Hodai, a high-ranking figure in Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, was killed in front of his home last month. Israel is convinced that Iran must avenge the assassination. Israeli security forces believe that Iranian terrorist units are still operating in Turkey, aimed at kidnapping or shooting, according to the website Ynet, and intelligence services are working to counter these threats. A source familiar with the incident told the publication: “In light of existing intelligence, the Israelis would be better off not flying there during this period. It is worth thinking about canceling the holiday in Turkey at this time.” That was the first warning.
Israeli media later reported on several Israelis waiting for “Iranian killers” at a hotel. Tourists were warned of the immediate threat during shopping. “Several Israelis who visited Istanbul were deported from Turkey last week by Israeli intelligence agents, who acted on intelligence, showing that visitors were at immediate risk from Iranian assassins,” the Times of Israel said. This was followed by a call to Israeli tourists to immediately leave Istanbul and Turkey in general from Israeli Foreign Minister Jair Lapid.
However, according to the Jerusalem Post, published in Israel, thousands of Israeli tourists did not follow the instructions of the authorities and went on vacation to Turkish resorts and Istanbul. This is even though the Israeli National Security Council previously gave the city the highest – the fourth level of warning about the weekend. Read the details at the link.
Apparently, in response to such a “complete disregard” of official warnings, a third was issued by National Defense Minister Benny Ganz. He said Iran was planning attacks on Jewish citizens and added: “I urge all Israelis in Turkey to follow the instructions of the security forces.” A Defense Ministry official, speaking on Israeli television on Channel 13, went on to say: “There are Israeli citizens who are a few minutes away from death and they do not know about the situation,” he assured tourists.