Gaza war a recruiting boon for terrorists, U.S. intelligence shows

The State Department’s top intelligence official is warning that the war in Gaza is bolstering recruitment among terrorist organizations and providing “inspiration for lone actors” furious over the United States’ staunch support for Israel.

The Hamas-led assault into Israel on Oct. 7 “was, is and will be a generational event that terrorist organizations in the Middle East and around the world use as a recruiting opportunity,” Brett Holmgren, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, told The Washington Post in an interview.

“We’ve already seen that play out to some degree in Europe,” Holmgren said, referring to the arrests of individuals in Germany and the Netherlands accused of plotting attacks on Jewish sites.

Holmgren offered his warning as he prepares to become acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) following the departure of Christine Abizaid, the agency’s chief since 2021, later this month.

Holmgren oversaw the State Department’s intelligence bureau as it was consumed by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as a multiplying array of threats from big powers such as China and Russia, and from terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and affiliates of the Islamic State.

The bureau — one of the 18 organizations that make up the U.S. intelligence community — is one of the least-known yet most deeply respected agencies in the U.S. government, given its long track record of prescience related to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and other geopolitical crises.

The State Department’s top intelligence official is warning that the war in Gaza is bolstering recruitment among terrorist organizations and providing “inspiration for lone actors” furious over the United States’ staunch support for Israel.

The Hamas-led assault into Israel on Oct. 7 “was, is and will be a generational event that terrorist organizations in the Middle East and around the world use as a recruiting opportunity,” Brett Holmgren, the assistant secretary of state for intelligence and research, told The Washington Post in an interview.

“We’ve already seen that play out to some degree in Europe,” Holmgren said, referring to the arrests of individuals in Germany and the Netherlands accused of plotting attacks on Jewish sites.

Holmgren offered his warning as he prepares to become acting director of the National Counterterrorism Center (NCTC) following the departure of Christine Abizaid, the agency’s chief since 2021, later this month.

Holmgren oversaw the State Department’s intelligence bureau as it was consumed by the wars in Ukraine and Gaza, as well as a multiplying array of threats from big powers such as China and Russia, and from terrorist organizations such as al-Qaeda and affiliates of the Islamic State.

The bureau — one of the 18 organizations that make up the U.S. intelligence community — is one of the least-known yet most deeply respected agencies in the U.S. government, given its long track record of prescience related to the wars in Vietnam and Iraq and other geopolitical crises.

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