Arugam Bay, Sri Lanka:
The last Israelis to leave at a scenic surfing hotspot in Sri Lanka said they felt safe and would stay there despite a warning from the Israeli government to leave immediately due to the threat of a possible terrorist attack.
Israel’s National Security Council on Wednesday called on Israelis to leave tourist areas in the south of the Indian Ocean island, saying it had information about a terrorist threat focused on tourist areas and beaches.
The agency did not specify the nature of the threat, but said the warning covered the Arugam Bay area – a popular haunt for Israelis – and beaches in the south and west of the country.
The US Embassy in Sri Lanka and the German Foreign Ministry also followed up with similar warnings, prompting Colombo to step up security and be on high alert.
Sri Lankan police have arrested three suspects for questioning in connection with an unspecified threat.
“We are working to ensure that all tourists are protected and their safety is assured at all times,” police spokesman Nihal Thalduwa told Reuters.
There were about 600 to 700 Israeli tourists in Arugam Bay from September to early October, local authorities said, but that number had dwindled to just 20 when the security alert was issued this week, which came at the end of the tourist season.
Seventeen had left the area by Friday and some of them flew out of the country, leaving three Israelis in the southeastern city of about 7,000 people.
One of them, who has been coming to Sri Lanka since 1991 and is a long-term resident, says he feels safe and expects his wife and his 17-year-old twin sons to join him in a week.
“I like coming here and my family likes coming here, and we surf for about three to four hours every day when my sons are here,” he told Reuters on Friday after returning home from his morning surf. “I don’t think there is a serious threat to security.”
The man, who declined to be identified, said two police officers showed up after the initial security warnings. Now 16 security personnel, including special police units, are stationed around his small, blue-painted house in Arugam Bay.
Two other Israeli men, brothers who were lounging in their room at a nearby homestay, surrounded by about eight police and special forces, also said they would stay until the end of the month and then move to the nearby town of Ahangama.
Nevertheless, Sri Lanka has tightened security measures while the memory of the 2019 Easter Sunday bombings is still fresh. These attacks, attributed to Islamic State, targeted churches and three hotels, killing 267 people, including at least 45 foreigners.
UNRIVALED SAFETY
Checkpoints have been set up on major roads and bridges in Arugam Bay and the surrounding area, and as many as 500 police, army and special forces have been deployed.
Police stopped vehicles and checked passenger ID cards.
Israeli officials have warned of an increase in the threat of attacks on Israelis outside their country since the start of the war in Gaza. There has also been an increase in reports of anti-Semitic incidents in many parts of the world since the outbreak of war in the Middle East after the Palestinian Islamist group Hamas attacked Israel on October 7, 2023.
Residents of Arugam Bay dismissed speculation on social media about tensions in the Muslim-majority city over the presence of Israelis in the aftermath of the Gaza war.
“Last year I started renting rooms to foreigners and they like to stay here because they are not afraid,” said 41-year-old Abubakar Rinosha, owner of the Israeli brothers’ host family.
Other residents said Israeli tourists are a major source of income, accounting for 70% of the city’s revenue.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)