French police on alert for Muslim terrorism. (AP/Francois Mori) (AP/Francois Mori)
French police

Hundreds of Islamic terrorists are already in Europe and the attacks in Paris and Brussels were only the tip of a massive iceberg, Moshe Ya’alon warned Europe. 

Hundreds of jihadists, Muslim terrorists, are “planning to strike Western targets on European soil,” Israeli Defense Minister Moshe Ya’alon told his Polish counterpart Antoni Macierewicz.

“We are concerned that what we saw in Paris and Brussels is just the start, and that attempts to carry out terror attacks in Europe will continue,” Ya’alon said, relating to Muslim terrorists on those two central European cities over the past year that left hundred dead and wounded.

Ya’alon hosted Macierewicz on Wednesday in Tel Aviv, with the two ministers discussing terrorism in Europe, the Syrian civil war, and other Middle East issues.

The Islamic State (ISIS) group has trained at least 400 fighters to target Europe in deadly waves of attacks, deploying interlocking terror cells like the ones that struck Brussels and Paris with orders to choose the time, place and method for maximum chaos, European and Iraqi intelligence officials revealed last month.

Terrorists, criminals and foreign fighters are part of the daily refugee flow into Europe US Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, NATO’s commander in Europe told lawmakers at the beginning of March, “masking the movement” of these dangerous elements and heightening the potential for an attack.

In testimony before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Breedlove said ISIS is “spreading like a cancer” within this mix, “taking advantage of paths of least resistance, threatening European nations” and the United States.

Speaking on the civil war in Syria, Ya’alon said that Israel does not expect there to be “stability and an end to the bloodshed in Syria anytime soon. In the war there, there are many conflicting interests and too many players in the arena. Some of these players, the global jihad organizations for example, are determined to continue fighting.”

Ya’alon added that Israel and Poland should strengthen their defense ties.

“Defense cooperation benefits both countries,” he said. “Unfortunately, Israel is very experienced in dealing with these challenges, both in in their conventional and terrorist perspectives, rockets, and more. We are prepared to cooperate and share knowledge and technology.”

Since the Muslim attacks in Europe, Israel has become a hub for intelligence on terror organizations, and European governments have reached out to Israel for assistance, banking on its vast experience in contending with this imminent threat.

By: JNS.org and United with Israel Staff