Israel Blames Iran for Attacks at Israeli Embassies

The Israeli government was quick to lay the blame on Iran for the two car bombs planted near Israel’s embassies in India and Georgia today. Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman spoke up first.

“We know exactly who is responsible for the attack and who planned it, and we’re not going to take it lying down,” Lieberman said.

Then, Israel’s prime minister named names.

“Iran and its client Hezbollah,” Benjamin Netanyahu told a meeting of lawmakers in Jerusalem. “In the last few months we have witnessed several attempts to target Israeli citizens and Jews in a series of countries, such as Azerbaijan and Thailand. In all of these cases we were able to thwart these attacks in cooperation with local forces,” Netanyahu said. “Iran, the world’s greatest exporter of terror.”

Iran denies it had anything to do with planting the either the the bomb that was defused in Tbilisi, or the one that was apparently stuck onto a car with diplomatic plates in New Delhi by someone on a motorcycle right before it exploded. Iran says Israel committed the attacks itself, in order to tarnish the image of Iran.

An Israeli spokesman with the foreign ministry, Paul Hirschon was asked today about who was behind the attempted assassinations in Georgia and India. Hirschon said he did not wish to give any details, but underscored what he called “positive and constructive” cooperation between Israel and the local authorities in Tbilisi and New Delhi, “in terms of putting the pieces together.” Hirschon was speaking during a conference call arranged by The Israel Project.

As for the Israeli government’s possible responses to today’s incidents, Hirschon said it “remains to be seen.” But he added, it was not reasonable to expect that Israelis would “sit and twiddle our thumbs happily.”

One former Israeli intelligence official I spoke with today said he is not sure who was behind the attacks. It might have been one of several global jihadi groups, he said. But the signs point to Iran’s proxy, Hezbollah, especially with the anniversary yesterday of the 2008 killing of the Hezbollah commander, Imad Mughniyeh. Israel is thought to be responsible for planting the car bomb that killed Mughniyeh in Damascus, Syria.

Speaking of sensitive Hezbollah anniversaries, there is another one coming right up as well, for the assassination of Abbas al-Musawi. On February 16, 1992, Israeli helicopters attacked al-Musawi’s motorcade in southern Lebanon, killing al-Musawi, his wife, son, and four others.

The former intelligence official told me that Hezbollah and Iran might very well be responding “in-kind” to a string of assassinations believed to have been carried out by Israel. He said Iran could be trying to send a message to the Israelis, by demonstrating that it too can conduct deadly attacks outside its borders. If that was indeed the intention, “it didn’t succeed,” he said.

So, what should Israel’s response be? The former spy said he does not think an Israeli strike against Iran would be wise. “Israel needs to defend itself,” he said. “It may be that there are [Israeli government officials] who want to use such incidents to justify something else.”