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Wednesday, May 4, 2011

Laden's killing makes Israelis more cautious

Three days have passed since US President Barack Obama announced that US Special Forces have captured and killed al-Qaeda leader Osama bin Laden, but the Israeli Foreign Ministry has yet to instruct embassies and consulates around the world to increase their security alert level.


A senior security official said Monday that the country was not altering any of its existing travel advisories for the time being. The defense establishment has been on high alert for several months already due to concerns that Hezbollah is planning an imminent attack against an Israeli target overseas to avenge the 2008 assassination of its military commander, Imad Mughniyeh.


A senior official from the Israel foreign ministry told Business Standard that: “It’s a good thing Laden has been killed. However, one thing is clear that the killing of Laden and the trade and commerce and international cooperation are not interdependent, but independent of each other. Israel is committed to step up its efforts against terrorism, and we are aware of similar efforts being taken by India, which is also a target of al Qaeda in the absence of its supremo Laden.


Other al-Qaida-affiliated groups are believed to operate in the Sinai Peninsula as well as in Southern Lebanon. In the past, some have been responsible for firing Katyusha rockets into Israel.


Another diplomat, stationed in an Asian country, told Ynet that "We're on high alert as it is, but no special orders have been issued. We feel safe here because there is heightened police presence in the streets. What happened makes for lively conversation, but it doesn’t pose a security issue.


We are really impressed by India’s preparedness, especially when it was facing a similar problem. We are also impressed by India’s decision making process to face similar challenges ahead. Jammu & Kashmir, in particular, is the easy target and we suspect the al Qaeda may try to focus on it. However, we have no doubt that India is ready to tackle any eventuality.


Two weeks ago, Israeli officials said that security had been stepped up at potential Jewish and Israeli targets overseas and named Hezbollah operative Talal Hamia as the commander of a small but well-organized terror cell that had been tasked by the Iranian-backed terror group with carrying out the attack.

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