(JTA) — Al-Qaida had planned to carry out a massive terrorist attack on Israeli dance clubs in 2002 but was thwarted with the help of U.S. intelligence operatives, a former FBI researcher said.

Ali Soufan, who with other agents had monitored al-Qaida for the FBI both before the 9/11 attack on the World Trade Center in 2001 and afterward, said the information was obtained by the operatives during interrogations of a Palestinian man apprehended in Afghanistan, the Israeli newspaper Yediot Acharonot reported Friday in an article about Soufan.

Zayn al-Abidin Muhammad Husayn was being held at a CIA site allegedly for fighting alongside al-Qaida there.

Forwarding the News

Thoughtful, balanced reporting from the Forward and around the web, bringing you updated news and analysis each day.

Terms(Required)

I agree to the Forward's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy

Email(Required)

According to the article, the attack was in the advanced planning stages when the information came in, leading to arrests. Al-Qaida estimated that the attacks — to happen simultaneously at several clubs — would have killed about 200 people.

It was the only large-scale attempt by the terrorist group to strike in Israel, according to the article.

Muhammad Husayn let the plan slip when he told Soufan that he believed he had been captured because one of the attack’s planners in Israel had talked. At that stage, however, U.S. intelligence was unaware of any big plans for an al-Qaida attack in Israel, Soufan said.

—
The post After 9/11, the US helped thwart a major al-Qaida attack in Israel, ex-FBI agent says appeared first on Jewish Telegraphic Agency.

A message from our Publisher & CEO Rachel Fishman Feddersen

I hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, I’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s award-winning, nonprofit journalism during this critical time.

The coming year promises to be filled with more complex and historic developments. We are entering an era where independent, fact-based Jewish journalism will be more important than ever. We need to be ready for whatever 2025 will bring, and with your help, we can be.

We’ve set a goal to raise $260,000 by December 31. That’s an ambitious goal, but one that will give us the resources we need to invest in the high quality news, opinion, analysis and cultural coverage that isn’t available anywhere else.

If you feel inspired to make an impact, now is the time to give something back. Join us as a member at your most generous level.

—  Rachel Fishman Feddersen, Publisher and CEO

With your support, we’ll be ready for whatever 2025 brings.

$36 $500

$120 $180 Other amount