By Jerry Elman
As Passover approaches—a time of remembrance, resilience, and family gathering—Jews around the world are once again being warned of escalating danger. According to a recent threat assessment by the Israeli National Security Council (NSC), Hamas is expected to increase its efforts to attack Jewish and Israeli targets abroad. The report highlights a troubling trend: as Hamas faces mounting military pressure and deteriorating conditions in Gaza, its leadership and operatives are turning outward, seeking soft targets globally.
Where the Threats Are Concentrated
The NSC has identified Europe, North America, and parts of the Middle East as key areas of concern. Several regions are specifically mentioned or implied through recent arrests, intelligence findings, and ongoing investigations:
Europe: A Growing Hub of Hamas Activity
- Germany, Denmark, and the Netherlands: In December 2023, Hamas-linked cells were arrested in these countries for allegedly plotting attacks on Jewish institutions. A few months later, Bulgarian police discovered a weapons cache connected to the same network.
- Sweden: The Swedish Security Service (Sapo) has linked Iranian operatives to incidents involving explosions and gunfire near Israeli embassies. Iran is reportedly using local criminal gangs to execute violent acts under the guise of organized crime.
- France and the UK are also at risk due to their sizable Jewish populations, visible community centers, and history of antisemitic attacks.
North America: Lone Wolves and Imported Radicalism
- Canada has seen a troubling spike in Molotov cocktail attacks and shootings at Jewish centers and synagogues. These incidents may be fueled by both imported ideology and radicalized individuals within.
- Australia also made the list with a car bombing attempt and multiple arson attacks—clear signs of operational intent reaching beyond traditional Middle East conflict zones.
- The United States, while not named directly in the NSC report, remains a primary concern due to the recent surge in antisemitic incidents and high-profile protests with extremist undertones.
The Sinai Peninsula
The NSC explicitly warns Israelis not to travel to the Sinai Peninsula—a popular yet highly volatile tourist destination—describing it as a “high-risk area” due to ongoing jihadist activity and historical precedent of kidnappings and attacks on Israeli citizens.
How Hamas Executes Attacks Abroad
The tactics Hamas is expected to use are not new—but their reach and precision have evolved significantly. Here are the main methods the NSC and global intelligence services are watching closely:
1. Covert Cells Embedded in Diaspora Communities
Hamas often relies on sympathetic networks or individuals who blend into local populations. These sleeper cells—activated on short notice—can acquire weapons, conduct surveillance, and launch attacks with little warning.
2. Collaboration with Organized Crime
In countries like Sweden, Iran and Hamas have allegedly recruited from within local criminal gangs. These actors have access to weapons, safe houses, and the ability to evade police surveillance. Their motivations may be financial, ideological, or coerced.
3. Digital Lures and Business Traps
The NSC warns that Iranian-backed operatives continue to use fake business proposals and deceptive online personas to lure Israeli citizens—especially businesspeople and dual nationals—into traps abroad. The intent: kidnapping, assassination, or extortion.
4. Lone-Wolf Radicalization
Fueled by online propaganda and the war in Gaza, individuals who feel compelled to “act” independently pose an enormous threat. These attackers are hard to detect, can strike without coordination, and often use crude but deadly means—knives, firebombs, vehicles, or firearms.
Arafat’s Shadow: The 1970s Revisited
These tactics may feel like modern threats, but they follow a familiar playbook from decades past. In the 1970s, Yasser Arafat’s Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) used similar strategies to export the conflict beyond the borders of Israel.
Arafat’s PLO orchestrated hijackings, embassy takeovers, and coordinated attacks on Jewish and Israeli targets around the world, all designed to force global recognition of the Palestinian cause. Notable examples include:
- The 1972 Munich Olympic massacre, where 11 Israeli athletes were murdered by the PLO faction Black September.
- The 1973 Rome airport attack, in which PLO terrorists gunned down civilians indiscriminately.
- Airline hijackings throughout the 1970s, forcing governments to negotiate and drawing international attention to their cause—often at the cost of innocent lives.
Like Hamas today, Arafat’s strategy was rooted in spectacle and terror. His goal was to internationalize the conflict, creating fear in Jewish communities and applying pressure on Israel through global public opinion. The difference now is Hamas has new tools—digital communication, online radicalization, encrypted messaging, and cooperation with Iran and transnational criminal networks.
The evolution from Arafat’s physical hijackings to Hamas’s virtual traps and covert terror cells marks a shift in method, but the underlying philosophy remains chillingly familiar: make Jews everywhere feel vulnerable. By targeting Jewish and Israeli civilians abroad, Hamas hopes to turn the global Jewish community into pawns in a broader ideological war.
Iran’s Hand in the Global Web
The NSC emphasizes that Iran remains the chief enabler of international terrorism targeting Jews and Israelis. It provides funding, training, logistics, and intelligence to Hamas, Hezbollah, and other proxies. Iran’s goals go beyond supporting the Palestinian cause; it seeks to destabilize Israeli security, weaken Western alliances, and spread its ideological influence globally.
Iran’s alleged recruitment of gang members in Sweden, its links to embassy attacks, and its online disinformation campaigns highlight a growing hybrid warfare strategy that merges statecraft with terrorism.
The Broader Climate of Hate
The NSC notes that the “climate of hate against Israelis and Jews due to the ongoing war” has made it easier for terrorist groups to justify or incite violence. In such an environment, propaganda spreads fast, narratives are weaponized, and legitimate criticism of Israeli policy is often hijacked by those seeking to dehumanize Jews.
A Time for Resolve
This threat assessment should serve as a wake-up call, not only to Israelis abroad but to Jewish communities and their allies everywhere. History teaches us that terror does not remain confined. What began with airplane hijackings in the 1970s evolved into bombings, then into rockets, tunnels, and now, global digital-age plots.
But history also teaches us something else: resilience. Jewish communities have faced terror before. We do not crumble—we adapt, protect, educate, and unite.
Like the terror movements of the past, Hamas aims not only to destroy but to demoralize. Yet history has shown: when Jews stand united in truth and resolve, no force of hate can defeat us.