Argentine police arrest 3 over suspected terror plot during Maccabi Games in Buenos Aires
The three suspected terrorists were staying at a hotel just two blocks from the Israel Embassy
A view of the city of Buenos Aires, Argentina. Photo by Narvikk/iStock
(JTA) — Argentine Federal Police have arrested three men in the Buenos Aires area on suspicion of planning a terror attack as an international tournament has brought more than 4,000 Jewish athletes to the city.
The three men were arrested Saturday in three separate locations following an intelligence sharing operation between U.S., Israeli and Argentine authorities. According to Argentine press reports, they are of Syrian and Lebanese origin. One is a Syrian national carrying Colombian and Venezuelan passports under his name.
The arrest, the latest in a series of recent terror threats in the Argentine capital, occurred during the 15th Pan American Maccabi Games, in which Jewish athletes from across North and South America, as well as Israel, compete in two dozen sporting events. The tournament began on Dec. 27 and runs through Friday.
“We’ve been very attentive these days because of the Maccabi Games,” security minister Patricia Bullrich said at a press conference on Wednesday. “The president has been paying special attention and also because of what’s going on in the Middle East.”
Bullrich did not provide further details on the planned attack and did not say whether it was meant to take place at the Maccabi Games. She said the three men had hotel reservations just two blocks from the Israeli embassy, which was the site of a bombing in 1992 that killed 29 people.
The three men had been waiting for a package weighing 35 kilograms to arrive from Yemen, according to Argentine media. Their cell phones are currently being analyzed to gain more information about the alleged plan.
Buenos Aires has seen a spate of terror threats in recent months, both real and fake, several of which have targeted Jewish institutions. In October, the United States and Israeli embassies were hit with bomb threats via email and both areas were evacuated. One threat said, “Jews we are going to kill you all.”
In October and December, false bomb threats hit the AMIA Jewish center, which was the site of the worst terror attack in Argentine history, a 1994 bombing that killed 85 people.
This article originally appeared on JTA.org.
This is a moment of great uncertainty. Here’s what you can do about it.
We hope you appreciated this article. Before you go, we’d like to ask you to please support the Forward’s independent Jewish news this Passover. All donations are being matched by the Forward Board - up to $100,000.
This is a moment of great uncertainty for the news media, for the Jewish people, and for our sacred democracy. It is a time of confusion and declining trust in public institutions. An era in which we need humans to report facts, conduct investigations that hold power to account, tell stories that matter and share honest discourse on all that divides us.
With no paywall or subscriptions, the Forward is entirely supported by readers like you. Every dollar you give this Passover is invested in the future of the Forward — and telling the American Jewish story fully and fairly.
The Forward doesn’t rely on funding from institutions like governments or your local Jewish federation. There are thousands of readers like you who give us $18 or $36 or $100 each month or year.
Support our mission to tell the Jewish story fully and fairly.
