Israel is pulling most diplomatic staff from the United Arab Emirates, Israeli media reported Thursday, after the National Security Council warned of threats from Iran, Hamas, Hezbollah and other groups.
“We are emphasizing this travel warning given our understanding that terrorist organizations (the Iranians, Hamas, Hezbollah and Global Jihad) are increasing their efforts to harm Israel,” the NSC said in its updated guidance, which reiterated a level-3 travel alert for the UAE.
The council linked the threat to what it called revenge motives following Israel’s June military operation against Iran, as well as broader anti-Israel incitement. It advised Israelis to avoid non-essential travel and warned of possible attacks especially around Jewish holidays and Shabbat.
There was no official confirmation from the Israeli foreign ministry, but media outlets said the decision to withdraw diplomatic personnel followed internal assessments of the growing threat environment.
While the NSC did not mention a specific plot, it noted that hostile actors have historically focused operations in nearby countries. The UAE, which formalized ties with Israel under the US-brokered Abraham Accords in 2020, hosts a growing Israeli and Jewish community.
In a separate case earlier this year, three men were sentenced to death in the UAE for the November killing of an Israeli-Moldovan rabbi, a rare act of political violence in a country often seen as one of the region’s most secure.
The NSC advised Israelis abroad to remain alert, avoid identifying symbols in public, and coordinate closely with local authorities if they suspect any danger.
“The solution to changing this regime lies in the hands of the people and the Iranian Resistance. With the regime’s overthrow by the people and organized resistance, Iran will move toward democracy and prevent a major regional war,” Maryam Rajavi told attendees at a conference in Rome.
“We will have a free, non-nuclear Iran, without executions, without mandatory hijab, without forced religion and without coercive rule,” she added.
Audience members, some wearing matching red and white outfits and headscarves, frequently interrupted her remarks with fist-pumping chants of praise.
The banned Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MEK) group is the largest component of the NCRI whose leaders are based in Paris.
A leftist-Islamist group, the MEK carried out attacks against the shah's government and US targets in the 1970s but fell out with other factions during the 1979 revolution which toppled the monarchy and has been at war with Tehran ever since.
Opposition figures have stepped up calls to rally against Tehran following a punishing 12-day war with Israel last month, but there have been no significant protests.
Iranian exiled prince Reza Pahlavi urged unity among Iran's opposition during a pro-monarchy conference in Munich on Saturday, saying the Islamic Republic's downfall would lead to sustainable peace and prosperity in the Middle East.
The Rome gathering was titled “Neither war nor appeasement - change by the hands of the Iranian people and organized resistance” and hosted a series of senior Western ex-officials who criticized Iran's leadership and praised the NCRI.
These included former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, former UK foreign minister James Cleverly and former Belgian prime minister and former president of the European Council Charels Michel.
Iran executed two MEK members accused of targeting civilian sites with improvised weapons, state media reported on Sunday.
“We hold this gathering while the religious tyranny, by executing heroic fighters Behzad Ehsani and Mehdi Hassani, expresses its desperation against the people and organized resistance. They never bowed and said “no” to the executioner,” Rajavi said.
The men were accused of like baghi or armed rebellion, moharebeh or waging war against God, efsadfel-arz corruption on earth, membership in a terrorist organization, gathering classified information and conspiracy against national security.
Amnesty International described their trial as "grossly unfair". Iran executed at least 901 people in 2024 - the highest number since 2015 - according to the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights.
Since 2013, some 2,500 of the MEK members have been sheltered in Albania, where they are banned from engaging in political activity.
