FBI director huddles with officials in Israel on current, future threats

FBI Director Christopher Wray made a surprise trip to Israel on Wednesday, meeting with fellow law enforcement and intelligence partners to discuss the ongoing threats facing both countries.

In a readout of the trip, Wray reiterated the FBI’s support for Israel and pledged to “continue to be responsive” to Israeli requests for “support in their ongoing efforts to keep their citizens safe from the threats and acts of terrorism.”

He also thanked his counterparts for their collaborative efforts on defeating threats from foreign terrorist organizations (FTOs), which have been on the rise since the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, which is designated as an FTO by the U.S.

“The FBI’s partnership with our Israeli counterparts is longstanding, close, and robust, and I’m confident the closeness of our agencies contributed to our ability to move so quickly in response to these attacks, and to ensure our support is as seamless as possible,” Wray said in a statement.

The readout said Wray’s primary focus is the FBI’s work “to confront the elevated threat” from FTOs, which, the stated said, “have expressed support and praise for the attacks on Israel and threatened to attack US interests both abroad and in the homeland.”

While in Israel, Wray met with FBI officials based in Tel Aviv and thanked them for their work combating ongoing threats of FTOs and for providing services to U.S. victims of the Oct. 7 attack, according to the readout. He also met with officials at the U.S. Embassy.

The readout said Wray met with Israeli intelligence and law enforcement officials, as well.

His trip comes as the civilian death toll in Gaza from Israel’s offensive against Hamas continues to rise. While the U.S. has remained steadfastly supportive of Israel, President Biden and other officials have grown increasingly critical of some of the tactics in its retaliatory war.

On Thursday, Biden said Israel’s response in Gaza has been “over the top.”

In December, Wray testified before Congress, warning of the heightened threats Americans have faced since the attacks.

“Given the steady drumbeat of calls for attacks by foreign terrorist organizations since Oct. 7, we’re working around the clock to identify and disrupt potential attacks by those inspired by Hamas’s horrific terrorist attacks in Israel,” Wray said in testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee. “The threat level has gone to a whole ‘nother level since Oct. 7.”

He said the heightened threat has targeted Jews, in particular.

“We’ve been opening I think 60 percent more hate crimes investigations post-Oct. 7, then compared to the comparable period pre-Oct. 7,” Wray said at the hearing. “The biggest chunk of those are threats against the Jewish community, but there are of course attacks … against others as well.”