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Germany ups protection at Jewish, Israeli sites

We are preparing "in case Iran targets Israeli or Jewish institutions," Chancellor Friedrich Merz said.

Then-Leader of the Opposition Friedrich Merz in Erfurt, Germany, on Aug. 21, 2024. Photo by Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons.
Then-Leader of the Opposition Friedrich Merz in Erfurt, Germany, on Aug. 21, 2024. Photo by Steffen Prößdorf via Wikimedia Commons.

The Federal Republic is bolstering security around Israeli and Jewish sites to counter possible attacks by Iranian agents, Chancellor of Germany Friedrich Merz told reporters on Sunday before taking off to attend a G7 summit in Canada.

On Saturday, France announced that it was enhancing security at Jewish-, Israeli- and American-affiliated sites across the country in the wake of the Israeli-Iranian war.

“Special vigilance” must be extended “to all sites that could be targeted by terrorist or malicious acts by a foreign power,” French Interior Minister Bruno Retailleau told regional security chiefs in a dispatch.

The interior minister mentioned “places of worship, schools, state and institutional buildings, sites with high traffic,” including “festive, cultural or religious gatherings,” as sites to safeguard with increased security.

Israel’s National Security Council issued a heightened travel advisory on Friday, warning that “terrorist elements” could attack Jews worldwide.

Iran has a history of attacking Jewish targets around the globe, including the 1994 bombing of the Asociación Mutual Israelita Argentina (AMIA) Jewish community center in Buenos Aires, which killed 85 people and wounded more than 300.

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