On Dec. 3, the Israeli government urged its citizens to avoid travel to the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain, citing threats from Iran. Iran has threatened to attack Israeli targets since its chief nuclear scientist, Mohsen Fakhrizadeh, was assassinated on Friday, Nov. 27. Israel has been accused of the assassination and the Iranian government suspects them to be behind previous killings of Iranian nuclear scientists. Israel has not commented on the matter, but Benjamin Netanyahu, Prime Minister of Israel, said “remember that name,” in reference to Fakhrizadeh during a news conference about Iran’s nuclear program in 2018.

With the threats of attack from Iran, Israel’s military has been prepared to deal with Iranian troops and their proxies. Tensions grow between the Middle Eastern countries. 

“This is going to be a nightmare, and I really hope that both governments, UAE and Israel, are coordinating and doing the best they can to safeguard those Israelis,” said Yoel Guzansky, former Israeli counterterrorism official and senior fellow at the Institute for National Security Studies in Tel Aviv.