Just minutes after we started noticing a terror warning on Israelis traveling and living abroad on several Hebrew websites, I received an SMS message from my cellular phone operator: “Planning a vacation abroad? We offer you the chance to enjoy our attractive tariffs for overseas calls.”

It would have been good to receive the terror alert on my cell phone too, as a kind of public service. What a pity that the government didn’t think of that, since most Israelis currently sitting by pools in Turkey and Thailand are not going online to look for news about terror alerts.

In any case, the airports authority has just announced that today there will be 58,000 Israelis passing through the country’s airport on their way overseas. This is a national high, despite the fact that yesterday, we received a serious terror threat on Israelis abroad. Here it is:

The following is a statement just released by the Anti-terrorism bureau of the Prime Minister’s Office. [It is a repeat of a similar release after the assassination of Hizbullah operations chief Imad Mugniyeh. The PMO calls this current release a 'sharpening' of the travel advisory.]

There are currently some 600,000 Israelis vacationing abroad, and I’m wondering how on earth the government hopes to get this message through to them. This travel advisory refers to all Israelis vacationing everywhere. The statement says that “Hizbullah is working constantly, tirelessly to harm Israelis all over the world, with a special emphasis on kidnapping operations.”

Today’s statement [in quotes], and my interpretation follows.

“Raise your level of awareness and sensitivity to anything and everything that strikes you as unusual.”

In essence, the PMO is telling Israelis to become extremely paranoid. Unless you have to, don’t leave your hotel room. When visiting an exotic location, do not take part in any local customs or cultural activities whatsoever. Treat everyone with suspicion. Continue reading →