Israel to increase security at its embassies around the world following DC shooting
Israeli embassies have been the target of attacks in the past, including since the start of the war in Gaza
Police take security measures and investigate the crime scene after a member of the US Air Force set himself on fire outside the Israeli Embassy in Washington, D.C., to protest the war in Gaza on Feb. 25, 2024. (Celal Gunes/Anadolu via Getty Images)
(JTA) — Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has instructed Israeli missions around the world to ramp up security following the killing of two Israeli embassy staffers in Washington, D.C.
The man authorities say is responsible for the shooting shouted “Free Palestine” afterwards, deploying a slogan widely used by critics of Israel and its war in Gaza.
“We are witness to the terrible cost of the antisemitism and wild incitement against the State of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement. He added that he had directed an increase in security for both Israeli missions around the world and for officials representing the state abroad.
Israeli outposts abroad are already heavily fortified, in part because of widespread anti-Israel sentiment and protests targeting Israeli officials abroad. Israel maintains 196 diplomatic missions around the world, including 10 in the United States, according to its Ministry of Foreign Affairs. (It closed its embassy in Ireland last year, citing antisemitic sentiment by the government there, but maintains a diplomatic mission.)
Israeli embassies have been the target of attacks in the past, including since the start of the current war in Gaza on Oct. 7, 2023. The deadliest attack was in 1992, when a bombing at the embassy in Buenos Aires killed 30 people, including four Israelis.
In the last 18 months, several people have been arrested or killed after threatening embassies in Europe, including teens in Sweden thought to have been ensnared in an Iranian terrorism plot and a man in Munich who was shot dead by police after opening fire on them. In addition, multiple people have set themselves on fire outside Israeli diplomatic outposts to protest the war in Gaza, including last year in Washington.
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