Israel raises travel warning for Thailand amid ‘persistence of threat’
National Security Council advises avoiding large events associated with Israel, especially if advertised in advance
Lazar Berman is The Times of Israel's diplomatic reporter
The National Security Council raised the travel warning for Thailand to Level 2 on Sunday, citing a continuing threat to Israelis in the Southeast Asian country, in a follow-up to an alert it first issued nearly two weeks ago.
On November 12 the the NSC called on Israelis to display increased vigilance due to “the emergence of a potential threat to Israelis” in Thailand
The NSC said it issued the fresh alert “in light of the persistence of the threat.” It stressed that the threat has not grown but the council was “sharpening and bolstering” its recommendations.
Level 2 recommends travelers “take increased precautionary measures,” but is not seen as a call to avoid or leave the country altogether.
Israelis should “avoid attending large-scale events associated with Israel, with an emphasis on those announced in advance, or places of entertainment and gathering associated with Israel. Notify local security forces if you are exposed to hostile activity targeting Israelis,” the NSC said.
The November 12 warning came as Thai police reportedly cautioned of a terror plot at the November 15 Full Moon party on the popular vacation island of Koh Phangan where there were believed to be thousands, if not tens of thousands of Israeli visitors.
Those warnings came amid allegations of an Iran-backed plot on Israeli tourists in Sri Lanka linked to an assassination attempt on US President-elect Donald Trump
A severe travel alert for Sri Lanka was removed on November 14.
The latest warning about Thailand came as the body of Rabbi Zvi Kogan, an emissary to Abu Dhabi’s Chabad chapter, was found after he had been missing since last week.
Israel’s embassy called the killing of Kogan “a despicable antisemitic act of terror.”
Officials suspect a number of Uzbek citizens recruited by Iran assaulted the rabbi and later fled to Turkey, the Ynet outlet reported.
Israel has been on high alert for Iranian efforts to harm Israelis and Jews around the world through its various agents and proxies after the countries exchanged direct military blows for the first time this year.
Iran launched major drone and ballistic missile attacks against Israel in April and October, in response to Israeli strikes on its proxies in Lebanon and Syria. In late October, Israel retaliated with a series of strikes in which dozens of aircraft targeted strategic military sites across Iran as well as air defense batteries.
Iran has vowed to respond but has not yet done so in any major capacity.
