Israel issues travel warnings to 40 countries amid Iran-led threats

Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) on Friday issued travel advisories for Israeli citizens regarding approximately 40 countries it defined as moderate or high threat destinations.

The travel warning comes amid imminent threats from the Iranian-led terrorist proxies to attack Israel and Israeli interests in response the recent elimination of Hezbollah’s top military commander Fuad Shukr in Beirut and the assassination of Hamas’ political chief Ismail Haniyeh in Tehran. Israel has only taken responsibility for the strike on Shukr but has neither confirmed or denied responsibility for the bomb that was detonated last Wednesday, killing Haniyeh in his room of the guesthouse where he was staying.

Israel's NSC urged Israelis to “seriously reconsider” any travels to countries with level 3 and 4 travel alerts. In addition, the council encouraged Israelis to exercise caution in “all other destinations.”

Most high-risk countries are hostile states with no diplomatic ties with Israel, such as Iran, Turkey, Lebanon, Syria, Libya, Yemen and Iraq. However, there are also moderate travel warnings for Abraham Accords partners – the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Morocco – and other nations that do have warm ties with Israel.

“Following recent events, Iran, Hezbollah and Hamas (alongside other terrorist factions) have declared their intentions to take revenge for the death of Hamas’s political leader, Ismail Haniyeh, and of the head of Hezbollah’s strategic unit, Fuad Shukr,” the NSC stated in its travel warning.

The security body urged Israeli nationals to keep a low profile and avoid displaying their Israeli or Jewish identities while travelling abroad. Israelis are also encouraged to steer clear of anti-Israel demonstrations overseas.

While many security experts believe Iran and its Middle East proxies will focus on striking the State of Israel, the NSC warned Jewish and Israeli institutions abroad.

“It is possible that [Iran and its proxies] will retaliate against Israeli/Jewish targets abroad, such as embassies, synagogues, Jewish community centers, etc,” the NSC wrote in its travel warning report. Furthermore, the report noted that “Chabad houses, kosher restaurants and Israeli businesses” are “preferred targets for terrorist factions.” due to their close association with Israel and Jews.

The NSC also warned that global Jihadist organizations could potentially exploit the current tensions.

“In addition, there is mounting concern that the escalation will increase motivation among global Jihad organizations and lone wolf terrorists to attack Israelis in various countries around the world.”

This is not the first time the NSC has issued travel warnings amid the ongoing Israel-Hamas war, which was initiated on Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists invaded and massacred 1,200 and took at least 250 hostages into Gaza.

In November, the Israeli security warned Israelis against non-essential travel to any country due to the dramatic increase in global antisemitism and hostility towards the Jewish state.

The Iranian regime has a history of attacking Israeli and Jewish targets abroad.

In 1994, 85 people were murdered in Argentina following a terror attack against the Jewish community in Buenos Aires. The bomb attack was widely attributed to Iran and its terrorist proxy Hezbollah.