Warning to Israeli Businessmen: Do Not Go Abroad

Israel’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau released a warning on Thursday, advising that Hezbollah and Iran are planning to murder or kidnap Israeli businessmen and former state officials.

In their travel warning, the Counter-Terrorism Bureau said: “Hezbollah continues to blame Israel for the death of Imad Murniyah and Iran is blaming Israel for the death of the nuclear physicist in Tehran. According to the information we have, threats of revenge against Israelis abroad continue to exist with an emphasis on businessmen and former state officials, by acts of killing or kidnapping.

The warning lists several suggestions that those at risk should take:

• Completely Refrain from visiting countries that are under a travel advisory
• Reject any tempting and unexpected business or entertainment offers, such as the drug deal offer that Elhanan Tannenbaum received and was used as a means to lure him to Lebanon and kidnap him
• Reject unexpected invitations for meetings, particularly at night and in remote locations
• Avoid allowing unexpected or suspicious visitors into hotel rooms
• Break the routine while staying abroad by changing conventional travel routes, restaurants, recreation sites and hotels.

Imad Murniyah, a senior Hezbollah member, was killed in by a car bomb blast in Damascus on February 12, 2008. Although he was considered one of the most dangerous terrorists in the Middle East and had been a target of assassination attempts during the 1990s, Israel has always denied that it was behind the assassination.

Since the assassination, Hezbollah has threatened to avenge Murniyah’s death and has several times taken steps towards doing so: Two years ago a local Hezbollah group in Toronto was arrested after they conducted surveillance on the Israeli embassy in Ottawa and on several synagogues in Toronto. In May 2008 a plot by the organization to bomb the Israeli embassy in Azerbaijan was uncovered.

This is not the first travel advisory issued to Israeli businessmen: In August 2008 it was reported that Israeli businessmen in South Africa were warned by security forces that there were plans to kidnap them. In September 2008, senior military officers were warned against visits to Gulf War countries due to concerns over being kidnapped by Hezbollah.