The terror threat level in Norway has been raised as an increased threat to Israeli and Jewish targets is seen.
According to the police, there is a connection between the crime in Copenhagen, where two Swedes were detained, and Norway.
– Raising the security level is probably an effect of what happened in Copenhagen and Stockholm, says Cathrine Thorleifsson, extremism researcher at the University of Oslo.
The Norwegian security police, PST, announced on Tuesday that the terror threat level in the country has been raised to a four on a five-point scale.
The reason is that one sees an increased threat to Jewish and Israeli targets linked to the escalating situation in the Middle East.
Researcher: Probably an effect of other deeds
The Israeli embassy in Stockholm has been exposed on several occasions since the war started last autumn. Earlier this year, a hand grenade was found at the embassy and last week shots were fired at the building.
The day after the shooting in Stockholm, two hand grenades detonated at the Israeli embassy in the Hellerup district of Copenhagen. Two Swedes have been detained, suspected of terrorist offences.
– Raising the security level is probably an effect of what happened in Copenhagen and Stockholm, says Cathrine Thorleifsson, extremism researcher at the University of Oslo and adds:
– I also think it is based on information that PST has about movements in the environment or actors. It is often the case that there are concrete threats when you raise the level.
Extremists and ideas move across borders
The Norwegian security police also state that there is a connection between the crime in Copenhagen and Norway.
– We know that people who are connected to the attack have had activity connected to Norway, says Siv Sørensen at PST’s counter-terrorism department.
The information from PST is nothing that surprises Cathrine Thorleifsson.
– Extremists are both radicalized and operate across national borders. It’s networks and ideas that are mobile, says Thorleifsson.
Not surprised by the increase
That the Norwegian police now choose to raise the terror threat level was quite expected, says Thorleifsson.
– It is not surprising that the threat picture is changing in this way. These actors are mobile and there is a threat picture that is also shaped by conflicts in another region, but which has local consequences in the Nordic region, says Thorleifsson.
At the same time, she points out that it coincides with the anniversary and several other Jewish holidays, which could become targets.
– We also know that over time the Israel-Palestine conflict creates a breeding ground for anti-Semitism, both for extreme Islamists but also for the extreme right.