Al Qaeda released a video Friday threatening terrorist attacks in Germany if next Sunday’s national election does not produce the result it wants.

“In a democracy, only the people can order their soldiers to come home,” said a man identified as Bekay Harrach, using the name Abu Talha and speaking in German. “But if the German people decide to continue this war, then it has sealed its own fate and, on top of that, it will have demonstrated that in a democracy civilians are not innocent after all.”

The speaker told Muslims to “stay away from anything not vital for the two weeks after the elections.”

“If the German people wants to live in security again, it has the opportunity now,” he said. Otherwise, after the elections, he warned that Germany faced a “rude awakening.”

The German Interior Ministry responded by raising the terrorism threat level and increasing security measures. “The federal elections offer a special [opportunity] for propaganda and operative activity by terror groups,” warned the ministry.

On Sunday, Harrach appeared on a second video, titled “O Allah! I love you.” According to German authorities, this video contains no specific threats.

Friday’s threat came in the wake of warnings from the Institute of Terrorism Research and Response, which recently intercepted a message that indicated that an attack on Germany might be imminent.

As Brad Macdonald wrote recently, “Al Qaeda has a successful track record of transforming a country’s political landscape by conducting an attack, or series of attacks, on the eve of a national election.” It was a series of train bombings in Madrid in March 2004 that resulted in the ousting of Spain’s pro-Iraq-war incumbent José Aznar and the election of José Luis Zapatero, the antiwar leader of the Socialist Party.

It would not be surprising if al Qaeda sought to transform Germany’s political landscape with similar attacks. But rather than usher in a weak government, as it did in Spain, radical Islamic terrorist attacks in Germany would more likely bring in a new hard-line and authoritative rule, and would have a far-reaching impact on Germany and the rest of Europe. Referring to the possibility of an Islamist terrorist attack on German soil, Gerald Flurry stated in a recently-recorded Key of David program: “I believe this could very easily happen, and could lead to the biggest change in world events in this end time.”

For more analysis on this, watch the Key of David program next week titled “End-Time Antiochus.” Also, be sure to read “Is Germany’s 9/11 Imminent?”