Israel on high alert amid fears of Iran 'retaliation'

By Abdul Raouf Arnaout JERUSALEM Israel has stepped up security at its embassies and Jewish institutions worldwide amid fears of “Iranian retaliation” following recent military escalations, according to Israeli press reports. “Security at Israeli and Jewish institutions around the world has been significantly enhanced in recent days,” Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth reported Friday. The newspaper attributed the stepped-up security to “fears that Iran -- frustrated by its failed missile attack on Israeli bases in Golan and Israel’s retaliatory strikes against its assets in Syria -- will shift strategy and attempt to harm Israelis abroad”. Yedioth Ahronoth went on to report that security had been stepped up at Jewish institutions worldwide, while Israeli diplomats overseas had been instructed to exercise caution. According to the Israeli army, Iranian forces based in Syria fired several rockets into the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights on Wednesday night, all of which, the army claims, were neutralized by Israel’s Iron Dome air-defense system. Hours later, Israel reportedly responded to the alleged Iranian attack by targeting 50 Iranian positions inside Syrian territory. According to an Israeli army statement released Thursday, the targets -- which reportedly included bases and troop concentrations -- were “not operating eastward, southward or northward… but westward toward Israeli military positions in Golan”. Following Israel’s retaliatory strike, Israeli Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman asserted that Israel had destroyed “almost all” of Iran’s military infrastructure in Syria. On Thursday, however, Abolfazl Hassan Beige, a member of the Iranian parliament’s national security committee, accused Israel of “lying” about the strikes, going on to deny any Iranian involvement in the alleged missile attack on the Golan Heights. Tension has mounted steadily between Israel and Iran since April, when Israeli warplanes struck the T-4 airbase in Syria’s western Homs province, reportedly killing a number of Iranian army officers.