Officials say Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert held the meeting, which consisted of intelligence briefings by officials from the Israel Security Agency among other defense and intelligence officials, to discuss the threat of jihad in the region, the Israeli Ministry of Foreign Affairs reported.

Officials cited the ongoing threat to Israel posed by the al-Qaida terrorist network and its use of the Internet to organize and recruit operatives to wage violent attacks not only against Israel but also against the West, democratic governments and moderate Arabs.

Israeli intelligence officials warned that jihad operations were seeking out Hezbollah and Hamas for cooperation on attacks.

Concluding the meeting, Olmert "instructed officials to continue their information-gathering and counter-terrorism efforts while coordinating with additional countries that are partners in the war on terrorism," the release said.