Following Israel’s general travel warning to Turkey on Monday morning, over 100 Israelis in Turkey were personally contacted by Israeli officials and warned to return to Israel, Channel 12 News reported on Monday evening.

According to the report, over 100 of the 40,000 Israelis currently in Turkey are being personally targeted by “an Iranian infrastructure that is planning to act right now” in order to avenge the assassination of a senior IRGC officer in Iran last week.

Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) said that in recent weeks Iran engaged in a number of attempts to attack senior Israeli businesspeople and diplomats but since their plans were thwarted by the Mossad, they are now targeting ordinary Israelis in Turkey.

The report added that the Turkish authorities are displeased by the negative publicity caused by Israel’s warnings but they realize they have no choice and are also attempting to thwart Iranian attempts to operate in the country. Israel updated Turkey about the threats prior to issuing the travel warning and the two countries’ intelligence agencies are sharing information.

The NSC has issued a number of guidelines for Israeli in Turkey, including avoiding contact with strangers, avoiding drawing attention to their nationality, refraining from providing personal details to others, especially about army service, and carrying the phone numbers of Israeli diplomats and local emergency services.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)