A terrorist attack on the Israeli embassy was prevented in Berlin

SOURCE: DW / AUTHOR: M.J. GDNUS
After yesterday's arrest of a Libyan man, who is believed to be a supporter of the terrorist organization "Islamic State" (IS) for the planned attack on the Israeli embassy in Berlin, the suspect should be brought before the investigating judge of the Federal Court (BGH) today (October 20). He will decide whether the Libyan will be put in pretrial detention. Federal prosecutors charge him with supporting a foreign terrorist organization.
The Israeli embassy confirmed that there was a plan to attack their diplomatic mission. The 28-year-old was arrested on Saturday in Bernau, near Berlin. Before that, heavily armed elite police officers raided the house. How close his ties with the "Islamic State" are, is not yet publicly known.
Searches in North Rhine-Westphalia as well
The suspect's apartment in Bernau was searched, confirmed the spokesperson of the Federal Prosecutor's Office. Also, in the district of Rhein-Sieg in the federal state of North Rhine-Westphalia, the apartment of a person who is not suspected of a criminal offense was searched. There, in St. Augustin near Bonn, some persons were questioned as witnesses and some possible evidence was seized.
German authorities found the suspect through a specific tip from foreign intelligence services. It is still unclear whether weapons or explosives were to be used in the planned attack on the Israeli Embassy. There were indications that after the attack, the suspect planned to escape to a relative in St. Augustine and then flee abroad. That relative is currently not considered a suspect, but a witness, according to the Czech media.
The Israeli ambassador thanks the German security services
Israeli Ambassador Ron Prosor thanked the German security services for preventing the attack on the diplomatic mission. "Muslim anti-Semitism is not limited to hate speech, but encourages global terrorism," Prosor pointed out. The employees of the Israeli embassy are particularly at risk because they are "on the front line of diplomacy".
In 1998, the State of Israel bought a plot of land with a villa in the southwest of Berlin. The embassy and the ambassador's residence were opened on May 9, 2001, the 53rd Independence Day of the State of Israel, in the presence of the then Minister of Foreign Affairs and later President Shimon Peres.
In Germany, the Federal Prosecutor's Office is responsible for investigating acts related to Islamist-motivated terrorism. Attorney General Jens Rommel pointed out in his annual report that this is one of the main threats to Germany. Of the more than 700 investigations launched last year related to terrorism and state protection, almost 500 were related to Islamist terrorism.