Disturbing “chatter” picked up by intelligence agencies about attacks against Jewish targets by Canadian-linked supporters of Hezbollah has prompted an alert to Canada’s Jewish community urging added caution. Anti-terrorism officials, however, are officially downplaying the startling report.

The report from ABC News said that “Suspected Hezbollah operatives have conducted recent surveillance on the Israeli embassy in Ottawa, Canada, and on several synagogues in Toronto, according to the officials,” said the ABC report. The report also said one of the cells is known as “Rashedan” and that members have been told to send their family members home to Lebanon.

When asked on about the Hezbollah threats, Public Safety Minister Stockwell Day confirmed that Canadian authorities were keeping an eye on the organization, “It’s something that’s watched,” Day said.

Jamie Jagoe, one of the federal police force’s top national security officers in Ontario, took issue with details of ABC’s report. “At the present time, there is no known specific threat to any specific location in the city of Toronto or anything like that. We have many ongoing investigations involving listed terrorist organizations. I can’t get into specifics, but I can say we have lots of ongoing investigations.”

Bernie Farber, chief executive of the Canadian Jewish Congress, said an alert was being sent to Jewish cultural institutions and synagogues. “We will ensure that everyone is aware and remind everyone that you never let your guard down because we, as a community, just can’t do that,” Farber said.

(Source: National Post)