Police on High Alert Ahead of Pending Attacks During Yamim Noraim

The security tensions in Israel “may continue for many more weeks; during these days there are repeated attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against the citizens of Israel,” Public Security Minister Omer Barlev warned.

Speaking on Thursday at a ceremony for the awarding of ranks and appointments in the Israel Police, Barlev said that “we are on the brink of the Tishrei chagim, and during these days there are repeated attempts to carry out terrorist attacks against the citizens of Israel. This tense period may last for many more weeks, during which terrorists and their emissaries will strive to reach the cities and towns, harm and kill us. But they will find policemen in front of them deployed all over the country, determined, brave and aware of the magnitude of the task.”

Police Commissioner Yaakov Shabtai noted that “there is a large increase in the number of alerts, but I urge the public not to change their plans for the holidays – but only to increase vigilance.”

From Motzoei Shabbos, the police alert level will rise to the highest level all over the country until the end of the chagim, he added.

The security establishment earlier this month held an assessment regarding the security preparations for the upcoming Yamim Tovim. In the discussion, Prime Minister Yair Lapid was presented with about 70 concrete warnings of plans by terror organizations to carry out terrorist attacks in Israel during the chagim. The security system has registered a record number of alerts for attempted attacks in recent months, which are only increasing ahead of the chagim.

The police are planning a record deployment of about 20,000 officers who will be stationed all over the country, with a focus on Yerushalayim and Yehudah and Shomron.

Meanwhile, the Hamas terror group on Thursday explicitly threatened hostile actions against Israel over what it called “violations against Jerusalem and the Al-Aqsa Mosque” ahead of the Yamim Noraim.

Hamas’s threats came a day after a group of extremists visited Har HaBayis and blew the shofar.

Visitations by hard-line radicals at the site have triggered previous rounds of violence between Israel and the Palestinians.

Addressing reporters in the city of Gaza, Hamas leader Mahmoud al-Zahar decried what he called a “blatant attack on the religious and Islamic status of the city and the mosque,” saying Israel bore full responsibility for “the possibility of dragging the entire region into an open religious war.”