Israel designates LeT as terror outfit to mark 15th anniversary of 26/11 Mumbai attacks

The Israeli Embassy said that all necessary procedures have been completed to declare LeT as a terror outfit.

Published on: Nov 21, 2023, 11:44:11 IST

By Shishir Gupta

Prefer HTon Google

Share via

Copy link

In a significant move to mark the 15th anniversary of the tragic Mumbai terror attacks, Israel has officially designated Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) as a terror organization. The Israeli Embassy said in a statement that all necessary procedures have been completed to declare LeT as a terror outfit, noting that the decision was made independently without any formal request from the Indian government.

Two Israeli nationals were among the six Jewish victims during the terror attacks at Mumbai's Chabad House during 26/11 terror attack. (File Photo)

“While Israel only lists terror organizations who are actively operating against it from within or around its borders, or in a similar manner to India - those globally recognized by UNSC or the US state department; the Israeli ministries of Defense and Foreign affairs, have jointly worked in the last few months towards an expediated and extraordinary listing of the Lashkar -e- Taiba organization on this date, to highlight the importance of a Unified Global Front in combating terrorism,” the statement reads.

To be sure, two Israeli nationals – Gabriel Holtzberg and Rivka Holtzberg – were among the six Jewish victims during the terror attacks at Chabad Lubavitch Jewish centre in Mumbai, known as the Chabad House.

Terming LeT a “deadly and reprehensible terror organization” responsible for the murder of hundreds of Indians, the embassy said its “heinous actions on November 26, 2008 still reverberate in force, through all peace seeking nations and societies.”

The Embassy of Israel expressed sincere condolences to all victims of terrorism, survivors, and bereaved families of the Mumbai attacks, extending solidarity to those in Israel affected by this heinous act.

"We stand with you united in the hope for a better peaceful future."

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Shishir Gupta
Shishir Gupta is Executive Editor at Hindustan Times and one of India's top journalists covering national security, strategic affairs, foreign policy and geopolitics. Over the past three decades, he has extensively reported on India's military, diplomatic and security landscape, covering every major conflict and national security challenge, from the 1999 Kargil War and the 2020 East Ladakh standoff to Operation Sindoor in 2025. He has also covered major terror attacks, including the IC-814 hijacking, the 26/11 Mumbai attacks and the 2025 Pahalgam terror strike, along with numerous Pakistan-backed terrorist incidents in the Kashmir Valley and across India. He has reported on national and state elections for more than three decades. A recognised authority on strategic affairs, Gupta has covered India's nuclear programme since the Pokhran-II (Shakti series) tests in May 1998 and has written extensively on global nuclear issues, Indian diplomacy and the country's expanding global outreach. He has also reported widely on international conflicts and terrorism, with a special focus on the Indian subcontinent. Gupta has interviewed Prime Minister Narendra Modi more than four times, including Modi's first interview with the print media after becoming Prime Minister in May 2014. His other interviews include three with the Dalai Lama, as well as conversations with Benjamin Netanyahu, Amit Shah, Yogi Adityanath, S. Jaishankar, Nirmala Sitharaman and Piyush Goyal. He is the author of Indian Mujahideen: The Enemy Within (Hachette, 2011) and Himalayan Face-off: Chinese Assertion and Indian Riposte (Hachette, 2014). He was awarded the Chevening-Wolfson Joint Scholarship at Wolfson College, University of Cambridge, UK, in 1998 and participated in the International Visitor Leadership Program (IVLP) of the US State Department in 2006. He received the Ben Gurion Prize from Israel in 2011 and the K. Subrahmanyam Prize for Strategic Studies in 2015 from the Manohar Parrikar Institute for Defence Studies and Analyses (MP-IDSA). Since 2024, he has hosted Point Blank, Hindustan Times' weekly YouTube show on global geopolitics.Read More

Get the latest India News, breaking headlines and real-time updates from across the country. Stay informed about politics, government policies, crime, weather and major national developments.