Pod Save America Hosts Call on Democrats to Cut All Israel Military Aid, No Longer Accept AIPAC Funding
Jews, Israelis Targeted in Austria Amid Surge in Antisemitic Incidents; Local Jewish Community Calls for Action
‘All of Our Strength’: Over 1,000 Pro-Israel Activists Gather in DC for Solidarity Conference
‘Devastated’: Wesley LePatner, Killed in Manhattan Mass Shooting, Was a Jewish Communal, Philanthropic Leader
Sen. Angus King Vows to No Longer Vote for Israel Military Aid Until Gaza Conditions Improve
Europe Won’t Pressure Israel to ‘Commit Suicide’ Amid Gaza Backlash, Palestinian State Push, Says Israeli FM
Israel’s National Soccer Coach Attacked in Athens Before Soccer Fans Chant ‘F–K Israel, Free Palestine’ at Match
New York Judge Sentences Neo-Nazi to 5 Years for Livestreaming Bomb Threats Against Jewish Hospitals
US Pressures Lebanon to Issue Cabinet Decision to Disarm Hezbollah Before Talks Continue
UK Plans to Recognize Palestinian State in September Unless Israel Meets Conditions, Starmer Says
Sochi Jews Remain Vigilant as Planes to Olympics Threatened With Toothpaste Bombs
Error: Contact form not found.
by JNS.org
As the Sochi 2014 Olympics begin, U.S. intelligence has indicated that terrorists could use toothpaste tubes to hide explosives on airplanes flying to Russia. The Jewish community remains on alert. Photo: Wikimedia Commons.
JNS.org – The Chabad-Lubavitch center in Sochi, Russia is taking security precautions as it welcomes an influx of Jewish athletes and visitors to its 3,000-member local Jewish community for the 2014 Winter Olympics, which began Thursday.
New safety concerns arose Thursday after U.S. intelligence indicated that terrorists could use toothpaste tubes to hide explosives on airplanes flying to Russia.
“I think you’re going to see a tightening of the screening procedures on these types of items that could contain explosive devices, that could either be used to blow up an airplane going to Russia or be smuggled into the Sochi are for the Olympics,” U.S. House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Michael McCaul said, ABC News reported.
Rabbi Ari Edelkopf, the Chabad emissary to Sochi, recently told JNS.org that the Sochi Jewish community is “in touch with local officials and security experts” regarding safety precautions. In December, two suicide attacks killed 34 people in Volgograd, about 700 kilometers north of Sochi. An Islamist group from the Caucausus claimed responsibility for the attacks. Up to 70,000 personnel will be patrolling the games, according to some estimates.
Mark B. Levin, executive director of the National Conference Supporting Jews in Russia, Ukraine, the Baltic States & Eurasia (NCSJ), told JNS.orgthat NCSJ isn’t certain about any specific threats to Jews attending the games, but that the group has been contacted by some concerned individuals and is directing those people to the U.S. State Department.
“As any American who might be going over, we hope necessary [safety] precautions would be taken,” Levin said.
