published May 8, 2018, 3:00:06 PM, by Michael S. Arnold
(Bloomberg) —

Israel’s army instructed municipalities in the Golan Heights to open bomb shelters in the northern plateau after noticing “irregular activity” of Iranian forces in Syria that raised fears of an impending attack on Israel.

“Defense systems have been deployed and IDF troops are on high alert for an attack,” the Israel Defense Forces spokesman said by text message. “The IDF is prepared for various scenarios and warns that any aggression against Israel will be met with a severe response.”

Hadashot News reported Tuesday night that Arrow, Patriot and Iron Dome anti-missile systems had been deployed on the Golan, and Israel Air Force planes were flying above northern Israel. Ynet reported that several cities in the north of Israel also readied bomb shelters, though the army hadn’t instructed them to.

The army’s warning comes as Israel braces for a response to recent strikes inside Syria, several of which killed Iranian military personnel. Israel is widely believed to have carried out the attacks and Iran publicly vowed to take revenge. Israel has refused to confirm or deny that it was behind the attacks, though a senior official who briefed foreign journalists Sunday strongly suggested that it was.

Trump Exit

The IDF announcement came moments before President Donald Trump announced the U.S. was pulling out of the international deal to limit Iran’s nuclear weapons program. The U.S. embassy in Israel ordered government employees to obtain advance approval for any travel to the Golan, a strategic plateau Israel captured from Syria in the 1967 Middle East War.

Tensions between Israel and Iran have soared since February, when the IDF shot down what it said was an armed Iranian drone that penetrated Israeli airspace en route to carrying out an attack. Israel then destroyed what it describe as the Iranian command and control center in Syria that dispatched the drone. Iran denies having sent the drone.

Israeli officials have confirmed the Jewish state has carried out dozens of attacks in recent years on convoys of Iranian weapons being sent through Syria to Hezbollah, Iran’s proxy militia in Lebanon.

To contact the reporter on this story: Michael S. Arnold in Tel Aviv at marnold48@bloomberg.net To contact the editors responsible for this story: Riad Hamade at rhamade@bloomberg.net Lin Noueihed, David Wainer
COPYRIGHT
© 2018 Bloomberg L.P