Two Israelis injured in New Orleans terror attack were on reserve duty in Israel and decided to take a break to travel to the US, an Israeli diplomat said.
Elad Shoshan, the consul of Israel for the Southwest United States, told Fox News Digital that the two men, in their mid-to-late 20s, were granted leave from the Israeli military after serving in the war and decided to take a break to travel to the US for about a month and a half.
Shoshan said the families of the two injured Israelis would like their names to be kept private.
Shoshan said the two men were part of a group of soldiers who were called to serve in the current war, and they decided to take a break and travel to the US to “freshen up” and “take their mind off things.”
Shoshan said the FBI told him that the attack was not specifically targeted against Israelis or Jewish people, but rather against American tourists from all over the world.
Shoshan warned that the threat of Islamic extremist ideology is not limited to the Middle East, but is a global threat. He pointed to anti-Israel protests and anti-Semitic rhetoric in the US as evidence, and said that “the West is next.”
Shoshan also expressed concern about the growing threat of Islamic extremism in the US, citing the recent border crisis and the discovery of bomb-making materials at the home of the suspect in the New Orleans attack.
He emphasized the need for the US and Israel to work together to combat this threat, and called for the US to “be firm” and “take action” against terrorism.
