Counter-terror bureau issues advisory to stay away from Djerba

The concrete threat level against Jewish sites is high, the bureau said, reiterating its standing advisory to “refrain from visiting” the area.

By HERB KEINON
Updated: MAY 10, 2016 01:34
A BRITISH AIRWAYS flight lands at Heathrow Airport (photo credit: AMY SPIRO)
A BRITISH AIRWAYS flight lands at Heathrow Airport
(photo credit: AMY SPIRO)
Israelis should stay away from the annual Lag B’Omer pilgrimage to the Tunisian island of Djerba because of concrete terrorist threats, the PMO’s Counter-Terrorism Bureau warned on Monday.
In advance of the Lag B’Omer celebration on May 25-26, the bureau issued a travel advisory saying that terrorist elements, specifically global Jihadists, “continue to operate in Tunisia and carry out attacks.”
The concrete threat level against Jewish sites is high, the bureau said, reiterating its standing advisory to “refrain from visiting” the area.
A similar warning was issued last year.
In the past, Lag B’Omer processions near the El Ghriba synagogue on the island – a synagogue restored in the 19th century that dates back to the First Temple period – have attracted thousands of people from around the world, including France, Britain, the US and Israel.
The synagogue was the site of an attack in 1985, when three people were killed.
In 2002, al Qaida claimed responsibility for a truck full of explosives that exploded near the synagogue, killing 21 people.
Last year Tunisia increased security on Djerba for the Lag B’Omer procession, which attracted some 500 people.