JERUSALEM (JTA) — An Israeli diplomat’s wife in New Delhi was injured by a car bomb, and a second bomb was disabled in a staff member’s car at the Israeli embassy in Tbilisi, Georgia.
Monday’s attacks came the day after the fourth anniversary of the assassination of the operational chief of Hezbollah, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed Feb. 12, 2008 in Damascus by a car bomb. Hezbollah blames his killing on Israel. Israeli embassies and other missions had been on high alert in advance of the anniversary.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Iran was behind the attacks.
In the New Delhi attack, Tal Yehoshua Koren, the wife of a diplomat stationed with the Israeli Defense Ministry mission in India, was the injured woman and was said to be in moderate condition, Ynet reported.
The bomb was either planted under the car or was stuck to the car by a passing motorcycle, according to The Jerusalem Post, citing local authorities. At least two other people were reported injured in the blast.
In Georgia, a local staff member of the embassy in Tbilisi discovered a bomb attached to the underside of his car and called police, who disabled the bomb.
"Iran is behind these attacks; it is the largest exporter of terrorism in the world," Netanyahu said in a statement. "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."
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said of the New Delhi attack, "This 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."
Last month, 400 boxes of bomb-making material were found hidden in boxes for electric fans in a shop near Bangkok, Thailand. Police learned of the cache from a Lebanese man arrested Jan. 13 who was alleged to be working with Hezbollah to plan a bombing attack. He told Thai police that the material was to be smuggled out of Thailand and used in an attack in another country.
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