The Iranian revenge has long been underway - and the next target may not be in Israel | Avi Ashkenazi
The article analyzes the Iranian terror infrastructure operating outside the country's borders, focusing on the foiling of the attack at the RAF Fairford base in Britain. The author warns that alongside sleeper cells and proxies, Israelis abroad could become the next target, especially given that hundreds of thousands of Israelis are spending the Sukkot holiday overseas without adequate precautions.
Avi Ashkenazi's article in Maariv analyzes the implications of the foiled attack at the Royal Air Force base at Fairford, England, and presents it as evidence of the extensive terror infrastructure that Iran operates beyond its borders. The author reviews the history of Iranian and Hezbollah operations against Israeli and Jewish targets worldwide, including the attacks in Argentina and Burgas, and mentions additional attempts in the past three years in India, Austria, Germany, Greece, Turkey, and Cyprus. He notes that Iran threatened the US to attack the Fairford base, and that the Israeli security establishment assesses that the economic pressure on Iran is significant and effective, but a popular uprising is not expected soon. It is further claimed that the Iranian move to block the Strait of Hormuz has exhausted itself, thanks to a safe shipping route created by the Americans and bypassing Saudi oil pipelines. The article details the structure of Iranian terror units: Unit 4000, the main secret terror mechanism in the Revolutionary Guard intelligence, responsible for recruiting foreign operatives and gathering intelligence on targets such as embassies and synagogues; and Unit 400 of the Quds Force, specializing in complex attacks, kidnappings, and assassinations. The author warns that Hezbollah, limited in its operations in Lebanon, will seek another 'soft underbelly' to harm Israel, and cautions that hundreds of thousands of Israelis abroad during Sukkot are not taking precautions. He also points out an aviation security loophole, whereby chartered planes of Israeli airlines are treated as foreign flights by the Shin Bet.