Shin Bet claims that it foiled al-Qaida plot

JERUSALEM — Israel on Wednesday said it had foiled an “advanced” al-Qaida plan to carry out a suicide bombing on the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv and bomb other targets, in what analysts said was the first time the global terrorist network’s leadership has been involved in plotting an attack in Israel.

The Shin Bet intelligence agency said it had arrested three Palestinians in alleged plot involving bombings, shootings, kidnappings and other attacks. It said the Palestinian men, two from Jerusalem and one from the West Bank, were recruited by an operative based in the Gaza Strip who worked for al-Qaida leader Ayman al-Zawahri.

While a number of groups inspired by alQaida have carried out attacks against Israel before, this appeared to mark the first time an attack was directly planned by al-Qaida leaders.

The Shin Bet said the Palestinians planned on attacking a Jerusalem conference centre with firearms and then kill rescue workers with a truck bomb. Al-Qaida also planned to send foreign militants to attack the U.S. Embassy in Tel Aviv on the same day using explosives supplied by the Palestinians, it said.

The Palestinian operatives had planned on several other attacks, it said.

The agency said the plot was in “advanced planning stages” but gave no further information on how close the men got to carrying it out.

A number of al-Qaidainspired groups have carried out rocket attacks from Gaza and Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula, as well as shootings in the West Bank.

Aviv Oreg, a former head of the Israeli military intelligence unit that tracks al-Qaida, said the plot marked the first time it has been directly linked to an attempted attack in Israel.

“This is the first time that Ayman al-Zawahri was directly involved,” he said. “For them, it would have been a great achievement.”