Diplomat’s wife returns to Israel from New Delhi

'Times of India' reports Tal Yehoshua-Koren told investigators she saw bomber prior to attack; terror victim lands in Israel.

By HERB KEINON, JPOST.COM STAFF
Indian police inspect bombed car in New Delhi 390 (R) (photo credit: REUTERS/Parivartan Sharma)
Indian police inspect bombed car in New Delhi 390 (R)
(photo credit: REUTERS/Parivartan Sharma)
Tal Yehoshua-Koren, the wife of an Israeli diplomat injured in a terror attack in New Delhi on Monday, gave her testimony on the incident to Indian investigators before leaving for Israel in an air ambulance on Friday, The Times of India reported.
Koren landed in Israel just before midnight on Friday and was taken to Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv.
According to the report, Koren told Indian police that a bomber wearing black clothes and riding a black motorcycle stuck the bomb on the vehicle and that it exploded only 30 or 40 seconds later. A motorcyclist planted the bomb on Yehoshua- Koren’s car at a traffic light, a short distance from the Israeli embassy and the Indian prime minister’s residence.
“I saw a biker close to my car when I was going to the American embassy. There was a push on the car from behind and I saw the biker.
I thought the biker had touched the car. I even lowered the windowpanes to say something to him but he escaped by then,” the Times quoted Koren as saying.
Officials told the Times that Koren’s testimony could change their assumptions that the bomb was a low-intensity incendiary device that explodes in three to five seconds. They added that a bomb that took longer to explode would likely have a timer or remote device.
“We have to take a re-look at all our theories,” one official said.
The officials told the Times that Koren’s description of the suspect was different than that which they had been relying on – that the bomber was on a red bike wearing a brown jacket.
Mossad agents visited the scene of the blast on Friday to reenact the attack, according to the report.
Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu phoned Yehoshua-Koren in the hospital and praised her for her courage in extracting herself from the car.
“All of Israel is thankful that you succeeded in getting out of that alive, and we are happy you are with us,” he said.
Yehoshua-Koren thanked Netanyahu for his phone call and said she felt better and “wanted to thank everyone for their support,” according to a statement released by the Prime Minister’s Office.