The latest attacks in Israel may be the start of a sustained wave of Isis violence, the former director of Mossad has warned.
Efraim Halevy, who ran the intelligence agency from 1998 to 2002, told a conference organised by Technion UK, the Israeli Institute of Technology this week: “We might be in the first phase of a new operation of a terror group targeting Israel.”
The British-born diplomat was speaking after the Jewish state was rocked by multiple deadly Isis-linked attacks in a week. Mr Halevy said the country was entering a heightened state of emergency, with fresh forces deployed on the streets to guard against further attacks.
He said the killings may have been timed to coincide with the visit to Israel on Monday of American Secretary of State Antony Blinken and the foreign ministers of the United Arab Emirates, Bahrain, Morocco, and Egypt.
The group met for an Arab-Israeli security summit in the Negev desert this week, highlighting the Jewish state’s improved relations with its neighbours.
The ministers’ visit to the grave of David Ben Gurion, Israel’s founding father, may have caused Isis to respond with violence, Mr Halevy said.
Ultimately, the Arab ministers did not join Israeli Foreign Minister Yair Lapid and Mr Blinken at the graveside, citing scheduling issues.
The one positive element of the attacks, Mr Halevy said, was that all Arab parties within Israel condemned the killing “immediately”.
Such a move demonstrated Israel’s internal unity, he added.
Last Tuesday, a stabbing and car ramming attack in Beersheva left four people dead, including two mothers, both with three children.
The perpetrator of last week’s stabbing and car ramming attack in Beersheva, Mohammad Ghaleb Abu al-Qi’an, was sentenced to four years in prison in 2016 for affiliation with Isis and attempting to recruit people to the jihadist group. While imprisoned, he admitted to organising an underground group that supported Isis.
Isis also claimed responsibility for Sunday’s attack in Hadera, which left two 19-year-old police officers dead.
Mr Halevy, the nephew of philosopher Isaiah Berlin, was born in London and emigrated to Israel in 1948. He served as director of Mossad, was a confidant of assassinated Prime Minister Yitzak Rabin, and played a key role in the Israel-Jordan peace treaty.
