Israel warns its citizens from traveling to UK, Western Europe, amid rising antisemitism
Israel warns its citizens from traveling to UK, Western Europe, amid rising antisemitism
The country’s National Security Council has updated its list of countries across the world containing credible threats for Israelis amid the war with Gaza.
Israel’s National Security Council (NSC) today published an updated list of countries worldwide that it considered a greater threat to Israeli citizens amid the ongoing war with Hamas and the extreme responses seen from critics of Israel and its response to the 7/10 attack.
Threat levels in many countries across Western Europe have risen to level 2, including the UK, France, and Germany, as well as Brazil, Argentina, Australia, and Russia. Level 2 means that Israelis are recommended to “exercise increased precaution” if traveling, but they do not pose a direct threat to their safety.
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Western Europe has a raised threat level for Israelis considering travel.
(Photo: Olivier Matthys / AP)
The threat level in South Africa, Eritrea, Uzbekistan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, and Turkmenistan has been raised to level 3. This means that Israeli citizens are recommended to reconsider non-essential travel to those countries and avoid them altogether if possible.
“Since the beginning of the war, we have identified increased efforts by Iran and its proxies, including Hamas and Global Jihad factions, to harm Israeli and Jewish targets around the world,” the NSC wrote in a statement. “At the same time, there is a constant and significant rise in incitement, attempted attacks and manifestations of antisemitism in many countries. Therefore, the NSC reiterates and underlines its recommendation to weigh the essentiality of travel at this time.”
It recommends choosing destinations that are considered less of a threat while also exercising general precautionary measures regardless of where they are outside Israel. Specifically, Israelis are advised to postpone travel to countries for which higher warnings have been issued, check whether there have been anti-Israel protests and violence at the destination, avoid demonstrations, and be urged to “avoid openly displaying your Israeli and Jewish identities and any relevant symbols, and staying away from Israeli and Jewish gatherings.”
The updated threat levels come amid a storm of pro-Palestinian protests across Europe and the U.S. that often contain overt threats to Jewish people and calls for the destruction of Israel. This week in Philadelphia, hundreds gathered at a Jewish and Israeli-owned restaurant calling to “charge you with genocide,” and Penn University students marched calling for an “intifada revolution.” In the UK, there have been weekly protests that regularly include chants that explicitly call for the destruction of Israel and "Khayber Khayber ya yahud," considered an antisemitic slur.
Since Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, The Anti-Defamation League (ADL) reported a 300% and 400% surge in antisemitic incidents in Austria and the United States. The London police reported an annual increase of 1,353%, and in Germany, a jump of 240% was noted.
