An Iranian plot to attack Israelis centered on targeting former Israel’s consul general to Istanbul Yossi Levi-Sfari, according to the
According to the report, the Iranian attackers were staying in the same hotel as Levi-Sfari and his partner, Ronny Goldberg, and planned to kidnap and then execute the two men.
The Hurriyet
The IHA news outlet said that seven of the eight Iranian nationals arrested as part of the plot appeared in a
News of the foiled plot first broke in
According to senior Israeli officials, significant intelligence had indicated that Iran
...a theocratic Shiite state divided among the Medes, the Persians, and the (Arab) Elamites....was seeking to carry out attacks against Israeli tourists in the country to avenge a series of killings and strikes on Iranian military and nuclear targets that have been attributed to the Jewish state.
A security bigshot briefing Hebrew media earlier this month said that the Mossad and local counterparts thwarted three Iranian attacks targeting Israeli civilians in Istanbul in recent weeks.
The security official said Mossad intelligence had led
...the occupiers of Greek Asia Minor...
and his partner.
In the wake of the arrests and Lapid’s visit, Israel on Tuesday lowered its security warning to Turkey to level 3, or moderate, after it had been at its highest level amid weeks of threats and warnings of imminent Israeli attacks.
The National Security Council warned that Iran’s motivation to carry out attacks remains high and that it assesses that "there are efforts to build infrastructure on the one hand and identify potential Israeli and Jewish targets on the other hand."