• Israel’s Foreign Minister Yair Lapid urges Israeli citizens in Turkey to leave.
• He cites reports of Iranian operatives planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.
• Tehran has accused Israel of carrying out a series of assassinations.

Yair Lapid, Israel’s Foreign Minister, urged Israeli citizens in Turkey to leave “as soon as possible” amid reports that Iranian operatives are actively planning attacks on Israelis in Istanbul.

“It’s a real and immediate danger,” Lapid told a meeting of lawmakers from his Yesh Atid party, citing “several Iranian attempts at carrying out terror attacks against Israelis on holiday in Istanbul”.

“If you are already in Istanbul, return to Israel as soon as possible,” Lapid said. “If you have planned a flight to Istanbul — cancel. No vacation is worth your life,” he added.

“Do not fly to Turkey at all,” unless such travel is “essential,” the foreign minister added.

Iran and Israel are arch-rivals and Tehran has accused the Jewish state of carrying out a series of assassinations targeting senior Iranian nuclear and military personnel.

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Most recently, Iran claimed that Israel was responsible for the killing of Revolutionary Guards Colonel Sayyad Khodai, who was shot dead outside his Tehran home on May 22.

Lapid made no reference to any alleged Israeli operations inside Iran.

But he said that some Israelis who recently traveled to Turkey had returned “without knowing their lives were saved”.

The alleged attackers were targeting Israeli citizens “in order to kidnap them or kill them,” Lapid said.

Earlier Monday, Israel’s Kan reported on Iranian plans to kidnap Israelis in Turkey a month ago, which were thwarted after Israel alerted Ankara to the threat.

Lapid thanked Turkey’s government “for the effort they are putting into protecting the lives of Israeli citizens,” but did not elaborate.

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