Israel’s spy agency, Mossad, joined forces with Brazilian security forces and international law-enforcement bodies to foil a terror attack planned by Hezbollah operatives, according to a statement from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office on Wednesday.
“Security forces in Brazil, together with the Mossad and its partners in the Israeli security community, as well as other international security and law enforcement agencies, thwarted an attack in Brazil that Hezbollah, under the direction and funding of Iran, was planning to carry out,” read the statement, adding that the operatives were part of “a wide network stretching into other countries as well.”
The operatives involved were part of an extensive network that extended into multiple countries.
The thwarted attack targeted Israeli and Jewish interests in Brazil, with the statement emphasizing ongoing global operations by Hezbollah and the Iranian regime against Israeli, Jewish, and Western targets.
The disclosure followed reports in Brazil exposing the plot.
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Brazilian federal police arrested two men on Wednesday with suspected links to Hezbollah, reportedly planning terror attacks against the Jewish community in Brazil.
While details about the specific target were not disclosed, authorities hinted at the possibility of more arrests.
Search warrants were executed in Sao Paulo, Minas Gerais, and the federal district around Brasilia, as per a statement from the Brazil federal police. The arrested individuals, along with recruiters, face charges related to creating or belonging to a terrorist organization and preparing for acts of terrorism, carrying a potential maximum sentence of 15 and a half years in prison.
With large Jewish communities in Latin America, concerns over security and potential threats arise. The biggest Jewish community in Argentina, with nearly 180,000 members, suffered major terror attacks in the 1990s. The Israeli Embassy bombing in Buenos Aires in 1992 left 29 dead, and the 1994 bombing of the AMIA Jewish Center killed 86 people, with Hezbollah and Iran identified as the main suspects.
Brazil, with the second-largest Jewish community in the region (an estimated 100,000 people in Rio and Sao Paulo), faces heightened security considerations following the foiled plot.
In response to rising antisemitism worldwide since the October 7 attack by Hamas, Israel’s National Security Council issued an unusual recommendation last Friday, urging Israelis to reconsider unnecessary travel abroad. The advisory emphasized avoiding the display of Jewish and Israeli identities while traveling overseas.