FM: Israeli readiness helped thwart Georgia attack

Israel was ready due to bitter experience of embassy attacks; team sent to India to investigate attack.

Lieberman 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Lieberman 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski)
Israel succeeded in preventing an attack on its embassy in Georgia because it was prepared, Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman told Israel Radio Tuesday. His comments came a day after a coordinated attack against embassy personnel in Georgia and India.
He explained Israel's readiness was due to bitter experience with attacks against Israeli embassies around the world.
Referring to the bombing of an Israeli diplomatic car in New Delhi, Liberman said that terrorists have been trying to carry out attacks in India for a long time. Israel has sent representatives to New Delhi to participate in the investigation of the attack, the foreign minister said, and expressed confidence that the findings would expose those responsible.
Police in New Delhi are "on the hunt" for the biker that allegedly latched an explosive onto the diplomatic vehicle, the BBC reported on Tuesday, citing comments from the Dellhi Police Commissioner.
"Police are on the hunt for the biker, wearing a brown jacket and driving a red-colored bike, who attached a magnetic device to the Israeli embassy car when it was standing at the Aurangzeb Road red light," MK Gupta said, according to the BBC.
Meanwhile, Indian Home Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram said that the attack on the Israeli mission in the Indian capital - just 500 meters from the Prime Minister's Residence - was the work of a "well-trained person," vowing to find those responsible.
Israel has implicated Iran and its Lebanese ally Hezbollah in the near simultaneous attacks that occurred in India and the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Police defused a bomb in the latter attack.
Iran has denied the accusations, instead saying Israel carried out the attacks on its own diplomatic personnel as part of a "psychological war against Iran."
Indian Urban Development Minister Kamal Nath said Tuesday, during a visit to Israel, that his government in no uncertain words” condemns the attack against Israeli embassy staff. He added that India is confident it will be successful in bringing the culprits to justice.
But when asked by The Jerusalem Post whether he agreed with comments made by the head of the All India Rice Exporters’ Association that the attack would harm efforts to maintain trade with sanctions-hit Iran, Nath said: “I don’t think so.”Nadav Shemer contributed to this report.
Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat
Click here for full Jpost coverage of the Iranian threat