Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Israeli Embassies Attacked In Three Countries, Netanyahu Blames Iran

A bomb attack aimed at members of the Israeli embassy has injured four people in New Delhi, India, according to TV channel.


Israeli officials have said there was another attempt on a diplomat's car in Tbilisi, Georgia, but the device did not go off. A Georgian worker at the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi said he heard strange noises in his car and alerted the police, according to Haaretz.


Security officials found the explosive device underneath the car and prevented the attack. Israeli diplomats were also reportedly targeted in Amsterdam, Netherlands.


The blast in New Delhi took place late Monday evening and is reported to have occurred near the Indian prime minister's home on Aurangzeb Road. Eyewitnesses said they saw the attackers stick explosives onto the car at a traffic signal and drive off.


TV has reported that the Indian defense ministry has identified the explosive as a sticky bomb that is said to contain foreign substances. Indian police officials had no CCTV coverage in the area and the investigation is now being handled as a terrorist attack.


The injured Israeli diplomat has been identified as Tal Yehoshua Koren. She was on her way to get her children from the American school. The Indian driver of the car was also injured in the attack.


Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has blamed Iran and Hezbollah for the attack according to Haaretz reporter Barak Ravid. On the prime minister's FaceBook page, he released a statement saying, "The Government of Israel and the security services will continue to act together with local security forces against such acts of terrorism. We will continue to take strong and systematic, yet patient, action against the international terrorism that originates in Iran."


At a press conference, Israeli foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman said (via Haaretz):


"The "attacks against Israeli embassies abroad... just means that the State of Israel and its citizens face a daily threat of terror, both physical and diplomatic. ...We know exactly who is responsible for the attack and who planned it, and we're not going to take it lying down."


Reuters is reporting that Iran has denied accusations that it was involved in the bomb attack on the Israeli embassy in India.


The incident comes a day after the fourth anniversary of the assassination of Hezbollah's deputy leader, Imad Mughniyah. The Islamist organization has accused Israel of the assassination though no one has officially taken responsibility for the attack.


The Jerusalem Post's military correspondent and defense analyst, Yaakov Katz, thinks the Hezbollah is likely to attack Israel overseas, to deter the West from launching a military strike against Iran's nuclear facilities. Katz says Israel's defense establishment believes this is because Hezbollah wants to prove that it can launch an attack anywhere it wants.




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