Israel accuses Iran, Syria of role in Tel Aviv bomb

By Ori Lewis

JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israel accused Iran and Syria on
Friday of planning and funding a suicide bombing in Tel Aviv
that raised tensions ahead of next week’s Palestinian election.

Thursday’s bombing posed a major challenge to interim
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who assumed power after
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s massive stroke on January 4, and
could pressure him to retaliate against Palestinian militants.

Sharon aide Raanan Gissin told Reuters that Israel has
“ample, concrete evidence” that the Tel Aviv bombing, claimed
by the Islamic Jihad group, was bankrolled from Tehran and
planned in Damascus. The bombing injured 30 people.

Gissin said he could not reveal the evidence. Israel has
often made similar accusations, noting that Islamic Jihad has
offices in Damascus.

Gissin’s comments echoed similar accusations made earlier
by Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz to Israeli newspapers.

The Haaretz daily reported that Mofaz said that Israel had
“decisive proof that the attack in Tel Aviv was a direct result
of the Axis of Terror that operates between Iran and Syria.”

Hebrew daily Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Mofaz as saying that
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmedinejad, who is on a two-day
visit to Syria, was holding a “terrorism summit” with his host,
President Bashar al-Assad.

Mofaz was also quoted as saying that Iran had funded the
attack while the operational orders to the suicide bomber, who
came from the occupied West Bank city of Nablus, were issued at
the Islamic Jihad headquarters in Damascus.

FEW DETAILS

Gissin sought to cast the Tel Aviv bombing as a warning to
European powers weighing punitive measures against Tehran over
its nuclear program.

The United States and the European Union want the
International Atomic Energy Agency to refer Iran to the U.N.
Security Council, where it could face possible sanctions.

“This attack was in Tel Aviv. Tomorrow it may be in Berlin
or in Paris or in London — countries that may vote against
Iran on the issue its nuclear program,” Gissin said.

Thursday’s bombing by the Islamic Jihad, which is sworn to
Israel’s destruction, was the first in the Jewish state since
an 11-month truce expired at the end of last year.

During his visit to Syria, Ahmadinejad pledged support to
militant Palestinian factions at a meeting with their leaders
on Friday, a Palestinian group said.

Gissin said Israel’s proof of Iranian and Syrian
involvement was presented to Washington and European powers.
But when asked for details, Gissin said: “It would be wrong to
elaborate or to specify exactly what, where the sources that we
have.”

The bombing, at a popular sandwich stand, was the first in
Israel since Sharon’s stroke.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas said the attack was
aimed at sabotaging the January 25 parliamentary election.

Violence could complicate the poll in which the militant
group Hamas is expected to make a strong showing against
Abbas’s Fatah movement.

The West suspects Iran of seeking nuclear weapons under the
cover of a civilian atomic program. Tehran denies this.

Olmert declared earlier this week that Israel “cannot in
any way or at any point” allow Tehran to obtain a nuclear bomb.