Israel on Monday issued a travel warning to Turkey, saying that there is a “real threat” to Israelis in the country.

The warning comes due to fear that Iran will intensify its attempts to harm Israelis in the countries bordering it in the wake of the assassination of a senior IRGC officer in Iran last week. Concern grew after The New York Times published a report saying that Israel confirmed its responsibility for the assassination to the US. Another Times report on Friday said that the unexplained “accident” at a sensitive Iranian military site east of Tehran on Thursday was actually a drone strike similar to past strikes attributed to Israel.

“For several weeks, and even more so after Iran blamed Israel for the death of a Revolutionary Guards officer last week, there has been growing concern in the security establishment about Iranian attempts to harm Israeli targets around the world,” a statement from the Counter-Terrorism Division at the National Security Council (NSC) said.

The statement continued that the NSC is “sharpening the warning for travel to Turkey and wants to clarify that this is a country at a high level of risk to Israelis these days.”

Sources in the defense establishment emphasize that these are “warnings on the background of a real threat to Israelis in the Turkish arena.”

The statement also noted that “the level of threat has also increased in other countries bordering Iran. Therefore, Israeli citizens must remain vigilant and adhere to the necessary precautions when traveling to one of these countries.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)