JERUSALEM, Nov. 30 (Xinhua) -- Israel's National Security Council (NSC) warned on Saturday about heightened threats against Israeli citizens in Southeast Asia, especially in Thailand.
"Further to threats identified in the past few weeks against Israelis by terrorist organizations in Thailand, for which the NSC issued a clarification on Nov. 24, 2024, all security organizations relevant to the Southeast Asia arena, and especially Thailand, assess that current intelligence indicates that the terrorists responsible for the murder of Rabbi Zvi Kogan in Dubai on Nov. 21 have been planning further terrorist activity," the NSC said in a statement.
Given the increased threat, the NSC issued a seven-point guideline, recommending all Israelis currently in Southeast Asia follow it.
On Nov. 24, the NSC raised the travel warning for Thailand to Level 2, meaning travelers are recommended to "take increased precautionary measures" without avoiding or leaving the country altogether, citing a continuing threat to Israelis in the Southeast Asian country in a follow-up to an alert it first issued some two weeks ago.
The alerts came as Thai police reportedly warned of a terror plot at a party on the vacation island of Koh Phangan on Nov. 15, where there were believed to be many Israeli visitors.
On Nov. 24, the UAE intelligence and security authorities found the body of Zvi Kogan, a former Israeli soldier who was a rabbi and emissary of the Jewish religious movement Chabad in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), three days after Kogan went missing.
The Israeli Prime Minister's Office said Kogan was killed in a "heinous antisemitic terror incident." ■
