Israeli embassy personnel came under attack in India, leaving four people injured, and an attempt to blow up an Israeli car in Georgia was thwarted. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu blamed both incidents on Iran.
The wife of an Israeli diplomat and her Indian driver were hurt in the blast about 500 meters (1,640 feet) from Israel’s embassy in New Delhi, Indian Foreign Ministry spokesman Syed Akbaruddin said in a text message. A bomb planted in an Israeli embassy employee’s car in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi was discovered and defused before it exploded.
“Israel will act methodically and with determination and steadfastness against international terrorism originating from Iran,” Netanyahu said in comments to parliament sent to reporters by text message.
Both Indian and Georgian authorities said they were trying to determine who was behind the attacks. Iran’s Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei pledged Feb. 3 to help “any nation or group that confronts the Zionist regime.”
Iran has blamed Israel for a series of deadly attacks on scientists involved in its nuclear program. The incidents also came a day after the anniversary of the 2008 car-bomb death of Imad Mughniyeh, security chief for the Iranian-backed Lebanese Hezbollah militia. Hezbollah, a Shiite political party, is considered a terrorist organization by Israel and the U.S.
Lebanon Invasion
Israel invaded Lebanon in 1982 in part because of the attempted assassination by Palestinian militants of its ambassador to the U.K., Shlomo Argov, who was left paralyzed until his death in 2003.
The Israeli injured in the Indian explosion was in a stable condition in a New Delhi hospital, Police Commissioner B.K. Gupta told reporters. A fire engulfed the car moments after the blast, he said, and was responsible for most of the damage to the vehicle.
“The Israeli car was targeted, there is no doubt about it,” Gupta said.
Initial investigations suggest a magnetic device was attached to the car before it exploded, he said. At least three other people including the driver were hurt in the blast that occurred as the car drove toward the city’s American Embassy School, he said.
Israel’s benchmark bonds fell today, lifting yields to the highest level in almost two months. The yield on the 5.5 percent notes due January 2022 rose four basis points, or 0.04 percentage point, to 4.62 percent at 2:41 p.m. in Tel Aviv, the highest since Dec. 15. The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange’s benchmark TA-25 Index was down 0.3 percent to 1117.62 at 4:14 p.m.
In Tbilisi, the bomb was discovered by an Israeli embassy employee and reported it to police, who defused it, Shota Utiashvili, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry, said by phone. There were no injuries and the embassy wasn’t evacuated, he added.
