FIRST ON FOX: Senior Israeli intelligence officials say the warnings provided to Australia prior to a deadly Hanukkah celebration attack on were part of a far broader alert: a rapidly accelerating global increase in attempts to carry out terror attacks across Western nations, with targets expanding beyond Jewish communities to include Christians and large gatherings—particularly during religious holidays.
A senior Israeli intelligence official states that Israel’s foreign intelligence service has been monitoring a significant uptick in attempted attacks globally, many of which are low-tech, rapidly organized, and intended to exploit open societies and crowded public events.
“We stopped a few ticking bombs, the target was on people’s heads,” the senior official told Digital.
Israeli intelligence officials note Australia is not an exception. From their viewpoint, recent months have shown a pattern of attempted and foiled plots across Europe, North America and other regions, indicating a sustained rather than sporadic violence.
“If you knew how many terror attacks we exposed and prevented,” the senior official said, “your jaw would drop.”
Israeli intelligence officials attribute the rise in attempted attacks partly to how extremist and state-linked networks establish global terror infrastructure while intentionally concealing their origins.
Officials explain the networks often use non-Iranian nationals to fulfill various roles in the operational chain—including logistics, intelligence gathering, financing and execution—to obscure any link to Tehran. In some instances, operatives are recruited from migrant or refugee backgrounds, while in others criminal groups or hired proxies are used to commit acts of violence.
To evade detection, officials say the networks use encrypted communications and secret in-person meetings—sometimes held outside the country where an attack is planned. In other cases, instructions are sent remotely via secure channels that bypass standard telecommunications monitoring.
Israeli assessments indicate extremist networks are increasingly overlapping: jihadist ideology, lone-actor violence and state-linked activity now coexist in the same ecosystem, driven by online radicalization and geopolitical instability. Many plots, officials say, are unsophisticated—making them harder to detect early while still able to cause mass casualties.
Israeli intelligence officials and foreign diplomatic sources warn the threat is not confined to Jewish targets and is global. “We exposed terror cells in Germany, Greece, Austria — but not only Europe — also in South America, India and Thailand.” The senior official said he cannot provide more details.
A senior foreign diplomatic source said the current environment is being shaped by what they call a global contagion effect—where attacks are amplified online, celebrated by extremist networks and quickly copied elsewhere.
According to the source, attacks are growing more appealing to extremists because they are relatively easy to execute while generating outsized psychological and political impact.
The source warned that and broader civilian gatherings are also vulnerable—especially during religious holidays and symbolic events that draw large crowds.
This concern has been evident across Europe in recent weeks, as authorities significantly boosted security at Christmas markets and holiday celebrations following warnings that seasonal events are prime targets for extremist violence. Armed patrols, barriers and surveillance were expanded in multiple cities as officials evaluated elevated risks linked to jihadist-inspired attacks and lone actors.
On Monday, federal authorities announced they had foiled a , arresting suspects accused of planning coordinated attacks using improvised explosive devices, per the Department of Justice. Prosecutors said the plot was disrupted before explosives were fully assembled—highlighting both the scale of the threat and the value of early intelligence intervention.
A second senior Israeli intelligence source said the broader threat environment has worsened following two years of Middle East war, which has invigorated radical Islamist movements worldwide.
According to the source, is of particular concern—creating conditions that could enable ISIS to regroup and once again exert influence beyond the region.
“I’m worried about Syria and that ISIS will return,” the source said, warning that renewed activity there could inspire further attacks in Europe, Australia and North America.
The source said the growing number of lone actors and sleeper cells poses a major challenge to Western security services—since individuals with minimal resources can still carry out deadly attacks and spark copycat violence.
While Australian authorities have not linked to foreign intelligence direction, Israeli officials say the case fits a wider global pattern: a sustained increase in attempted terror attacks, many of which never become public because they are disrupted early.
“We see it everywhere,” the senior intelligence official said. “And most of what we stop, the public never hears about.”