Israeli officials again warned Israelis over the weekend about the risk of attacks in Turkey, saying that an attack was thwarted on Friday.

“There were Israeli families who were a minute from death and didn’t know it,” an Israeli security source told Channel 13 News. “Iranian cells are aware of Israelis who are at hotels in the city.”

“Being in Istanbul now is like playing Russian roulette,” a security source told Channel 12 News. “If we could publicize the full picture, Israelis would flee from there like they would from a fire.”

Security sources said that senior Israeli security officials are in Turkey and are working in unparalleled cooperation with Turkish intelligence officials to thwart attacks.

Israel’s National Security Council issued rare instructions on Thursday to Israelis in Turkey, including not to open their hotel doors to anyone, even hotel workers, not to post their locations on social media, to avoid tourist hotspots and to refrain from entering taxis that approach them.

Israeli security officials believe that there are about 2,000 Israelis currently in Turkey, less than half the number that was there just a few days ago.

Since the warning was renewed on Friday, security officials say that Israelis in Istanbul are now taking the threat seriously: “We’re seeing a dramatic change,” one official said. “Israelis are staying in their hotel rooms and aren’t wandering from place to place until 2 a.m.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)