The Israeli authorities on Monday issued a travel warnings urging Israeli travelers to avoid places where they would be prime targets for jihadist militants, including Turkey and much of the Middle East, The Times of Israel has reported. The Counter-Terrorism Bureau in the Prime Minister’s Office, which issues warnings ahead of most holiday seasons, noted that the list includes some of the most popular tourist destinations for Israelis, including Turkey.
Hundreds of thousands of Israelis are expected to travel overseas during the series of Jewish holidays that starts with the Jewish New Year on September 20 and ends with the Sukkot festival from October 4 to 12, when most travelers head abroad. The most severe warning is for the Sinai, where beachfront tourist venues have long drawn many tens of thousands of Israelis during prime vacation periods. Israelis should avoid travel to Sinai in the foreseeable future, and leave the Sinai peninsula immediately if they are already there, the warning stated.
Turkey also received special mention, with the warning noting that İstanbul and other Turkish cities have been the target of a wave of both Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK) attacks in recent years, adding that Israeli institutions have been especially targeted on occasion.
