Security has been ramped up at Israeli diplomatic missions in response to this week’s attacks, a former senior counterterrorism official who works closely with Israeli military and security services told Fox News.
Although the Israeli Embassy in Washington is not commenting publicly on its security procedures, the ex-counterterrorism official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said the increased security includes embassies as well as personnel, after Israel’s diplomatic employees were targeted at least twice in the last week – in India and former soviet republic of Georgia.
Significantly, the official, without elaborating, said Israel also is taking steps “internally.” The response was described to Fox News as “across the board.”
The Israelis have information pointing to Tehran being behind the series of plots, including attacks in India, Thailand and the former Soviet republic of Georgia, the official said.
“There is no daylight between Israel’s public statements and private view of the attacks. There is information that leads to Iran,” the official said.
The ramping up of security is not inconsistent with statements by the FBI and Homeland Security Department that there is no credible or specific threat inside the U.S., and these departments have not changed their security posture.
Separately, security sources say the U.S. intelligence community is debating whether the rash of attacks shows Iran is feeling the pressure of new sanctions or if they are tied to the death of Imad Mughniyah.
Four years ago this week, Mughniyah was killed by a car bomb in Damascus, Syria. He was not only the military leader of the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah movement but also behind the Beirut barracks bombing and American embassy bombings in 1983 that killed more than 350.
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