Prime Minister Ehud Olmert today, chaired a meeting of the Ministerial Committee on National Security [i.e. the Security Cabinet] in order to discuss terrorist threats against Israelis abroad.  Cabinet members were briefed regarding National Security Council Counter Terrorism Bureau (http://tinyurl.com/22ckc3) travel warnings and discussed both the process of issuing such warnings and the scope of terrorist threats to Israelis.
 
Cabinet members reviewed the efforts of the various bodies in order to respond to threats, including localized threats of the abduction of Israelis.  Cabinet members underscored the need for Israeli citizens to be attentive to NSC Counter Terrorism Bureau warnings and to take obligatory precautions.

Prime Minister Olmert noted that various events have occurred in recent years, which have created high motivation among the terrorist organizations, mainly Hezbollah, to attack Israelis.  Government bodies are making every effort to map the threats and warn against them; however, it is the responsibility – first and foremost – of every citizen who travels abroad to keep far away from dangerous areas and to take the obligatory precautions.  “Israeli citizens and Government bodies must take these threats very, very seriously,” the Prime Minister said.

The Committee also approved the operations procedure, which was formulated in recent months in the framework of joint staff work by the NSC and the Cabinet Secretariat, led by NSC Chairman Danny Arditi and Cabinet Secretary Oved Yehezkel.  This procedure stems from the process of providing a basis for Cabinet discussions that began in the wake of the Winograd Committee and Lipkin-Shahak Committee reports.  It should be noted that the Committee has been convening regularly in recent months and a program for its future discussions, through the end of 2008, which has been approved by Prime Minister Olmert, was also presented today.  The Prime Minister said that the procedure approved today was in keeping with the National Security Council Law, which was passed by the Knesset, and would improve the work of both the Cabinet and the various bodies that submit their views to it.