Israel accuses Iran and Syria over 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 tension before next week’s Palestinian election.

Thursday’s bombing posed a serious challenge for interim
Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who assumed power after
Prime Minister Ariel Sharon suffered a stroke on January 4, as
well as to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas, who warned that
the attack was designed to sabotage the January 25
parliamentary poll.

Sharon aide Raanan Gissin told Reuters Israel had “ample,
concrete evidence” that the Tel Aviv bombing, for which the
Islamic Jihad group claimed responsibility, 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 by Defense
Minister Shaul Mofaz to Israeli newspapers.

The Haaretz daily reported that Mofaz said 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.”

Yedioth Ahronoth quoted Mofaz as saying Iranian President
Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, on a two-day visit to Syria, was holding a
“terrorism summit” with President Bashar al-Assad.

During his visit to Damascus, Ahmadinejad pledged support
to militant Palestinian factions at a meeting with their
leaders on Friday, a Palestinian group said. Leaders from
Islamic Jihad and Hamas were present.

Hamas, expected to make a strong showing against Abbas’s
Fatah movement in the election, staged rallies across the Gaza
Strip on Friday attended by tens of thousands of supporters.

Senior Hamas leader Ismail Haniyah said the group would not
abandon its campaign against Israel “until we raise flags over
the Dome of the Rock” — the Jerusalem shrine in a complex holy
to Muslims and Jews.

WARNING TO EUROPEANS

Gissin sought to cast the Tel Aviv bombing as a warning to
European powers considering 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 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.

Gissin said Israel’s evidence of Iranian and Syrian
involvement was presented to U.S. and European officials. Asked
for details, he said: “It would be wrong to elaborate or to
specify.”

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

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.