Officials:
Al-Qaeda to strike this year
Security officials estimate international terror network aims to
carry out mega-terror attack in Israel in 2006; authorities
concerned about strike that would eclipse September 11
attacks
Alex Fishman
Global Jihad has Israel in its sights: Security officials estimate
that 2006 is the "target year" set by the global al-Qaeda terror
network to carry out a mega-terror attack in Israel, the country's
leading newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth reported Thursday.
The disturbing report follows official confirmation by IDF Deputy
Chief of Staff Moshe Wednesday that global Jihad forces maintain
regular
bases in Lebanon and Jordan. However, the details released by
Kaplinsky are apparently only the tip of the iceberg.
Security authorities were able to detect two years ago the shift in
priorities of global Jihad terrorists with regards to Israel, which
has been "upgraded" to the rank of a major target, mostly due to
personnel and ideological changes within global terror
networks.
This shift has been manifested, among other things, through public
declarations by leading international terrorists.
Recently, terror mastermind Abu Musab al-Zarqawi, who operates in
Iraq, declared his organization plans to carry out an attack in
Israel. Of no less concern, global Jihad forces have deployed in
countries around Israel, namely Egypt, Jordan, and Lebanon where
they concentrate mostly in and around refugee camps.
Meanwhile, officials speak of an emerging al-Qaeda network in the
Gaza Strip as well.
Syria has also been implicated and serves as a transfer point for
terrorists heading to Iraq. For al-Zarqawi, Syria is also a
transfer point and base for terrorists planning to carry out
attacks in Jordan and Israel. Currently, Syria is home to countless
terror camps and hosts numerous terror elements.
Egyptian connection
Security officials also estimate that highly militant elements in
the Fatah and Hamas disappointed by the relative diplomatic
moderation of their organizations may find their way to the global
Jihad umbrella.
The shift within al-Qaeda, which has changed the focus from a
global Islamic revolution to the Middle East, is a result of Osama
Bin Laden's weakening position within the organization. Meanwhile,
Bin Laden's deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri, has boosted his position and
the leading operatives of the group today hail from Egypt, like
Zawahiri.
Those operatives, whose roots can be found in the Islamic
Brotherhood movement, cling to a doctrine that stresses the need to
bring about Islamic revolutions in moderate Arab countries, with an
emphasis on Egypt and Jordan.
The bottom line: The Middle East has become global Jihad's favored
target, and Israel is now one of the main targets in the
region.
Meanwhile, security authorities here are already preparing to face
the growing international terror threat. The scenarios officials
are dealing with are much different than those Israel has come to
expect from Palestinian terror groups, however.
An indication of what may lie in store is Zarqawi's plan to target
two Israeli passenger ships in Turkey in 2005, an attack that was
expected to result in a casualty toll of about 1,500 people.
Authorities, however, are also preparing for strikes on a scale
that would eclipse the September 11 terror attacks.