The Israeli intelligence community has helped prevent at least 50 terror attacks planned by the Islamic State terrorist group and Iran in 20 countries across the world over the past three years, Israel’s Channel 12 News reported Tuesday.
The Mossad, the country’s external intelligence agency, and the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate provided foreign governments and their intelligence services with critical information needed to thwart those attacks.
Twelve of the terrorist plots were prevented in Turkey. The report stressed that despite tense diplomatic relations between Israel and Turkey since 2010, intelligence cooperation between the two countries has remained strong.
In response to the report, Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein said: “It appears that only Israeli citizens owe the Mossad gratitude.”
Last year, a large Iranian terrorist plot on French soil – targeting an exiled Iranian opposition group outside Paris – was foiled with the help of Israeli intelligence. Iranian agents tried to detonate a bomb at a rally which was to be attended by thousands of people, including Rudolph Giuliani, U.S. President Donald Trump’s personal lawyer.
Iran is the number one state sponsor of terrorism, according to the U.S. State Department.
In June, The Daily Telegraph reported that extremists linked to the Iranian-backed terrorist group Hezbollah stockpiled tons of explosive materials in a secret bomb factory in London. Acting on information from Mossad, British authorities confiscated thousands of disposable ice packs containing more than three tons of ammonium nitrate – a common ingredient in homemade bombs.
The same month, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that Israeli cyber intelligence had helped thwart “major” terrorist attacks in “dozens” of countries. Israel shares information about cyber-threats and attacks with 85 countries, he explained.
For instance, Israel alerted Australian authorities about a planned Islamic State attack on an Etihad Airways flight from Sydney to Abu Dhabi, foiling an explosion in the air. Etihad is the national airline of the United Arab Emirates.