Blast on highway targets construction contractor

Explosion near Morasha Intersection moderately injures jeep's driver, lightly injures son; "this was an assassination attempt," police tell 'Post.'

By YAAKOV LAPPIN
A powerful explosion ripped through a jeep driven by a construction contractor on Route 5, northeast of Tel Aviv on Monday afternoon.
The blast, which occurred near the Morasha Intersection, near Kfar Yarok, moderately injured the jeep’s driver, 53-year-old Yitzhak Levi, and lightly injured his son, who was in the vehicle with him.
“This was an attempt to assassinate Levi,” a Tel Aviv spokeswoman told The Jerusalem Post.
A 66-year-old moped driver and a second motorist, both of whom were driving near the targeted the jeep, were lightly wounded in the attack.
Levi, of Ra’anana, is the brother of Eli Levi, who was assassinated in 2004 when an explosive device was planted in his car as part of an underworld feud. The resulting explosion killed Levi at a gas station in Kiryat Ono.
Tel Aviv police’s central unit has taken charge of the investigation into Monday’s blast.
Magen David Adom paramedics evacuated the injured to the Beilinson Medical Center in Petah Tikva and the Sheba Medical Center in Tel Hashomer.
Route 4 was closed to traffic for a period by police, causing a large build up of traffic.