New Iran-linked terror org targets European Jewish institutions, Diaspora Ministry warns |
A new terror organization known as Harakat Ashab al-Yamin al-Islamia is responsible for a series of attacks against Jewish institutions in Europe over the past week, the Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Ministry said Sunday.
The group, whose name translates to “The Islamic Movement of the Companions of the Right,” emerged publicly this month and is believed to be linked with Iranian terror networks.
The organization claimed responsibility for a series of explosions and arson attacks targeting Jewish sites in Belgium, Amsterdam, and Rotterdam between March 9 and March 14 last week, the ministry’s report said. The group also claimed that it had attacked a Jewish site in Greece last Wednesday, although it is not clear what that referred to.
“The recent events in Europe are not isolated incidents but part of a disturbing pattern of action: Terrorist networks affiliated with the Iranian axis are trying to expand their arena of operation into the cities and Jewish communities of Europe,” said Diaspora Affairs and Combating Antisemitism Minister Amichai Chikli.
“The message must be clear – Jewish communities are not a legitimate target for threats, and the international community must act resolutely against any entity that attempts to export terrorism and antisemitism beyond the borders of the Middle East.”
The goal of these attacks was to primarily intimidate Jewish communities and create an environment of fear, the ministry said. Those incidents only damaged property and did not cause any casualties, the report noted.
The group carries out operations through local cells or individual operatives directed from abroad, the report said. Its operational model includes establishing new organizations before each attack, communicating through existing networks used by the terror organization, and hiding behind local operations to protect the culpability of the operation’s leaders.
This model, which allows terrorist networks to operate in Europe while maintaining operational ambiguity, may reflect an evolving pattern of attacks through front organizations and proxies, the report noted.
The organization’s ability to coordinate attacks in multiple countries in a short period of time indicates that the risk of further attacks remains significant, it said.
Intelligence analyses indicate that the footage of the attacks was quickly distributed on Telegram channels affiliated with pro-Iranian Shiite militant networks, including channels linked to Hezbollah and the Iranian Revolutionary Guards.
The organization’s name is similar to a title previously used by the Iraqi militia Harakat Ansar Allah al-Awfiya, an organization designated as a terrorist organization by the US State Department. As the leader of that group was reportedly assassinated in late February, it is possible that the attacks on European synagogues are also intended as a message of revenge, the report said.
المقاومة الإسلامية حركة اصحاب اليمين تتبنى رسميا استهداف معبد يهودي في العاصمة الهولندية إمستردام pic.twitter.com/fg4dKKfbiR — #ايران (@iranhashtags) March 14, 2026
المقاومة الإسلامية حركة اصحاب اليمين تتبنى رسميا استهداف معبد يهودي في العاصمة الهولندية إمستردام pic.twitter.com/fg4dKKfbiR
— #ايران (@iranhashtags) March 14, 2026
The name “Ashab al-Yamin” originates from Quranic terminology describing the righteous who receive their record in their right hand on Judgment Day.
Its logo depicts a raised arm holding a rifle pointed to the right with a globe behind it, a design that closely resembles the symbols used by Iranian-aligned militant groups. However, the emblem features a Dragunov sniper rifle, rather than the AK-47 commonly used in other logos, a difference that may be intended to obscure direct attribution, analysts said.
Last Monday, a synagogue in Liege, eastern Belgium, was damaged in an early morning blast denounced by the mayor as an “extremely violent act of antisemitism.” No injuries were reported, with “only material damage,” a spokesman for the police in the city said.
On Friday, an overnight blast damaged the only Orthodox school in the Netherlands, but did not cause any injuries, in what Amsterdam mayor Femke Halsema called a “deliberate attack against the Jewish community.”
Earlier in the day, four young men were arrested on suspicion of setting off an explosion outside a synagogue in Rotterdam that caused a brief blaze and damage to the building.
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