JERUSALEM (EJP)—Israel said it foiled an Al Qaeda plan to carry out a suicide bombing at the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv.
Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, said Wednesday it arrested three Palestinians it accuses of plotting to carry out bombings, shootings, kidnappings and other attacks.
The men, two from Jerusalem and one from the West Bank, were recruited by an operative based in the Gaza Strip who worked for Al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Shin Bet said they planned on attacking a Jerusalem conference center with firearms and then killing rescue workers with a truck bomb.
Other planned targets included an Israeli bus and Jewish homes in Jerusalem. Shin Bet said that the Al Qaeda operatives planned to gain entry into Israel using Russian paperwork.
According to the Israeli media, the arrests were made three weeks ago, shortly before at least one of the men was due to travel to Syria to make final plans for the operation.
One of the suspected plotters, identified as Arib al-Sham — a Gaza-based Al Qaeda point man for the attacks — is still at large.
According to a senior U.S. official, “we have no reason to question the Israeli intelligence.”
“Details are still emerging,” said the official, who described the plot as “audacious” and involving a “small cell.”
According to Shin Bet, the foiled plot indicates that the civil war in Syria has not only drawn terror operatives throughout the region, but has enabled Al Qaeda and similar organizations to put down roots and attempt to link up with Palestinians in the West Bank and Jerusalem who would be willing to strike Israeli and Western targets.