Greek security forces are on alert in order to protect Israeli and Jewish installations here after the government was informed that a group of terrorists, believed to be members of the Al Fatah group of the Palestine Liberation Organization, had entered the country with explosives and other weapons.
According to the Greek daily Ethnos, the government was informed by “reliable sources” that the Palestinians had entered the country and that terrorist attacks would be committed within three days. Ethnos reported that the government was provided with this information last Saturday, November 3.
Minister of Public Order Yiannis Skoularikis, according to the newspaper, ordered a general alert of the police in Athens. The alert was expressed by re-enforcing security guards in every Jewish and Israeli related installation in Athens, as well as placing guards at the houses of the diplomatic staff of the Israeli representation here.
The police precinct, which has under its jurisdiction the main synagogue in Athens, confirmed to the Jewish Telegraphic Agency the state of high alert, although there did not appear to be any sign of it during a tour of Israeli and Jewish installations in Athens. Not only was there no visible increase in security at the Israeli diplomatic mission, but there was not even one police officer at the Jewish school.
A spokesperson for the Israeli diplomatic mission here said, “We have no idea whatsoever about increased security measures or any threats.” Sources close to the Israeli diplomatic mission speculate that the Ethnos press report could be another one of those appearing in the local pro-government press lately implicating Israel and actually have more to do with the the internal power struggle between the left and rightwing of the ruling Socialist Party.
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
