Posted on 11/17/2003 2:17:43 PM PST by yonif
The Turkish daily Radikal reported that the Israeli intelligence service Mossad had warned Turkish intelligence units twice about an attack on synagogues in Turkey.
The first warning came in April, when Mossad reportedly said that al-Qaida was planning to attack the Neve Shalom and other synagogues, as well as U.S. British and Israeli consulates in Turkey, Radikal said.
A second Mossad warning, that al-Qaida was planning attacks on Israeli citizen and U.S. citizens in Turkey, came in September, Radikal reported.
Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom flew to Istanbul to show solidarity to the small Jewish community in this predominantly Muslim nation that is an ally of Israel.
He began his visit by paying a call on Turkey's chief rabbi, Isak Haleva, who was in one of the synagogues when the attackers struck and was slightly injured. Haleva's son, Yosef, suffered serious face and neck wounds, and had surgery.
Shalom laid a wreath in memory of the victims of Saturday's attacks at the Neve Shalom synagogue. The mayor of Istanbul accompanied FM Shalom. The Foreign Minister also met with Isranbul Jewish community leaders.
Striking minutes apart Saturday in two neighborhoods five kilometers (three miles) apart in this metropolis as Jews worshipped on their Sabbath morning, the bombings claimed most of their victims among Muslims who were passing by.
Together, investigative teams from both nations probed the twisted metal and other rubble for possible links to Osama bin Laden's organization or other terrorist groups based abroad.
Private Turkish NTV said that Turkish intelligence officials were questioning three people, including two women, detained in connection with the bombings. One of the blasts tore apart the facade of Neve Shalom - Istanbul's biggest synagogue and the symbolic center of Turkey's 25,000-member Jewish community.
The other synagogue was Beth Israel, in an affluent neighborhood.
Authorities were skeptical about a Turkish radical Islamic group's claim that it carried out the bombings, questioning whether it was capable of carrying out such carefully coordinated attacks.
Turkish officials said intelligence suggested al-Qaida may have been planning attacks in Turkey. "We were informed that both vehicles paused and exploded in front of the synagogues," Turkey's Foreign Minister, Abdullah Gul said. The drivers of the vehicles were believed to be at the wheels at the time of the blasts, he added.
Said Turkey's prime minister, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, "This incident has moved beyond the national dimension, I believe, to the internatiional."
But Shalom, in an interview with Israel's Army Radio from Istanbul, was cautious about assigning blame.
"From what is being said here, the direction is more to al-Qaida according to the Turkish government, but this hasn't been finalized. There are things that still need to be investigated," Shalom said.
On Saturday, an Israeli counterterrorism expert, Boaz Ganor, said, "At this time (there is) no indication of al-Qaida involvement."
Turkey, a secular nation that is NATO's only Muslim member and a close U.S. ally, enjoys warm relations with Israel. Turkey and Israel have carried out joint military exercise, and Turkey in 1948 became the first Muslim country to recognize the Jewish state.
"Turkish Jews will continue to survive," said Selvyo Ovadya, a spokesman for the Jewish community. "But it's impossible to stop suicide attacks."
Al-Qaida is thought to have carried out an April 2002 vehicle bombing at a historic synagogue on the Tunisian resort island of Djerba that killed 21 people, mostly foreign tourists.
A senior Israeli government source said it appeared that this type of sophisticated attack must have been at least coordinated with international terror organizations.
"The method of operation leads to the assumption -a quite solid one - that (the bombs) were the making of al-Qaida or Hezbollah, two organizations that specialized in this type of assault," the source said on condition of anonymity.
In 1986, a Palestinian gunmen killed 22 worshippers and wounded six during a Sabbath service at Neve Shalom, leading to tighter security.
Mossad Chief: There were no Advance Specific Warnings of Istanbul Attacks
16:55 Nov 17, '03 / 22 Cheshvan 5764
(IsraelNN.com) In an address before the Knesset Foreign Affairs & Defense Committee today, Mossad Director Meir Dagan stated there were no specific advanced intelligence community warnings of planned attacks against the two synagogues in Istanbul.
Of course, anyone in a shul - anywhere - assumes that risk on some scale.
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