36 countries which Israelis are warned to stay out of

Our recent post on visiting the Sinai noted that Israel's Counter-Terrorism Bureau warns Israelis against traveling in 20 Arab countries.

That's only part of the don't-visit picture.

In all, 36 countries are on the counter-terrorism bureau's current list of places which it warns Israelis to stay out of. The bureau, an arm of Israel's National Security Council, classifies these no-visit countries according to four levels of threat.

A - Threat is concrete and extremely high. Refrain from visiting. Leave immediately.

B - Threat is concrete and high. Refrain from visiting. Leave as soon as possible.

C - Threat is concrete and basic. Refrain from visiting.

D - Potential continuing threat. Defer non-essential visits.

The bureau warns all Israelis to stay out of parts or all of the following countries. The information is from a pre-holiday travel advisory dated Aug. 5.

I. Arab states
Level A Threat
1) Iraq
2) Egypt
3) Sudan
4) Jordan
5) Syria
6) Lebanon
7) Somalia
8) Yemen

Level B Threat
9) Algeria
10) Djibouti
11) Saudi Arabia

Level C Threat
12) Kuwait
13) United Arab Emirates
14) Tunisia
15) Qatar
16) Morocco
17) Chad
18) Bahrain

Level D Threat
19) Libya
20) Oman

II. Non-Arab states
Level A Threat
1) Iran
2) Afghanistan

Level B Threat
3) Indonesia
4) Malaysia
5) Pakistan

Level C Threat
6) Kenya

Level D Threat
7) Bangladesh
8) Nigeria
9) Tadzhikistan.

III. Specific areas of danger
Level A Threat
1) Kashmir district, India
2) Mindanao islands, southern Philippines
3) Chechen district, Russia

Level B Threat
4) northern Nigeria, above the 10th latitude
5) southern Thailand, from the Krabi-Thammarat line to the Malaysia border

Level C Threat
6) Khao San Road and vicinity in Bangkok
7) southeast Turkey along the Iraq and Iran borders

IV. Special travel warning: Israelis throughout the world face a serious potential threat of kidnapping by the Hezbollah.

V. Four countries where Israelis should be especially alert to dangers of general terror attacks:
1) Philippines
2) Turkey
3) Thailand
4) Uzbekistan

The bureau has issued a special, top-level alert for Colombia. This warning applies to Israelis working for Colombian authorities in security capacities. To avoid kidnapping or assassination, the bureau advises them to conceal their Israeli identity and to travel only in daylight on main roads.

--Joseph M. Hochstein, Tel Aviv