Israelis urged to cancel trips to UAE, exercise caution in Thailand

Israel’s National Security Council issues new travel warnings for United Arab Emirates and Thailand, calling on Israelis to avoid the UAE if possible, and to exercise caution when traveling to Thailand.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel’s National Security Council is calling on Israeli travelers to cancel all non-essential trips to the United Arab Emirates, and advising travelers exercise caution when visiting Thailand.

The NSC issued a pair of new travel warnings over the weekend, updating the travel advisory status for Israelis visiting Thailand and the UAE.

While the NSC emphasized that the updated advisory guidelines for travel to Thailand were not based on any new concrete threats, the travel warning to the UAE was issued just days after Rabbi Zvi Kogan, a 41-year-old Chabad emissary with dual Moldovan and Israeli citizenship and assistant to the chief rabbi of the UAE, was reported missing.

Rabbi Kogan’s remains were found by UAE security personnel over the weekend, after he was abducted and murdered by agents working on behalf of Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

The UAE is now ranked as a level 3 risk for Israeli travelers, the NSC said, according to which Israelis are advised to cancel non-essential trips to the UAE.

“And for those who are in the country—take extra precautions,” the advisory alert reads, including the removal of any outward signs of Jewishness or Israeli citizenship.

“Remain extra vigilant, and pay attention to your surroundings; If you are concerned that you have been exposed to a terrorist incident, inform the security forces; In major cities, or locations where demonstrations or protests are taking place, conceal anything that could identify you as Israeli or Jewish.”

Regarding travel to Thailand, the NSC urged Israelis visiting the country to avoid attending large events identified with Israel, and concealing their Jewish and Israeli identity.